[Plate I.], which dates 700 B.C., is an exact copy of an Egyptian drawing. It will be noticed that the Egyptian method of representing the figure is a peculiar one. A modern representation of the same type of dress is shown in [Fig. 2], and the plan of cutting in [Fig. 2A] It should be noted that this plan—namely, a tunic with braces—is in some instances shown with the braces buttoned on each shoulder at the narrowest part. This illustration is given as a type of Egyptian dress decoration, which would be either printed, painted, or embroidered on the garment. It might be considered that this type of dress more nearly approaches the skirt than the tunic; but reaching, as it does, to the breast-line, and comparing various examples which, as it were, gradually merge into the sleeveless tunic which again merges into the tunic with short sleeves, the present classification will be found to be the most convenient.
PLATE I
[Plate II.]
[Plate II.], which dates 1700 B.C. also first century B.C., is an exact copy of an Egyptian drawing of a woman wearing a species of tunic with braces (plan, [Fig. 1]). The striped decoration upon this tunic is suggested by the lines of another type of Egyptian dress—namely, the drawn-up skirt. The origin of the decoration can be easily understood by a reference to the drapery on [Plate IX.] In the original of this drawing the figure is represented with a lofty head-dress in addition to the fillet of ribbon and the golden asp here shown, but for the sake of getting the figure on a scale large enough to show clear details the head-dress is omitted. The person represented is said to be Cleopatra dressed as a goddess.
