#early 18th Century

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Louis de Silvestre (1675-1760) "The Formation of Man by Prometheus with the Aid of Minerva" (1702) Oil on canvas

[ltwilliammowett]

An anchor of the Queen Anne's Revenge (1709) in a conservation reservoir

The Queen Anne's Revenge was the flagship of the English pirate Blackbeard. The ship was probably built around 1709 in France or the Netherlands for the Atlantic triangular trade. She went on a privateer voyage in 1710 and was converted into a slave ship in 1712.

She sailed under the French flag under the name La Concorde until she was captured by a pirate fleet under Captain Benjamin Hornigold and Captain Blackbeard in 1717. Under Blackbeard's command, she terrorised the Caribbean and the American east coast in 1718. In 1718, the ship was lost when it ran aground in Beaufort Inlet.

[jeannepompadour]

Isabel Farnese, Queen of Spain ,early 18th century

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[desimonewayland]

Cream and blue marbled beaker in "zwischengold" glass technique

Dresden, early 18th C.

Lacquered and gilt double-walled glass (zwischengold) imitating polished, variegated marble

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[arinewman7]

Enjoying Coffee

Artist Unknown

oil on canvas, early 18th century

[desolatus]

Corset, C. Early 18th century

Spanish

Gift of Mr. Claggett Wilson, 1946

[paletapessoal]

Flemish stomacher, early 18th century

[my18thcenturysource]

Hi! I’ve been studying women’s portraits from the 1720s and have stumbled across a few with these underbust pieces. Nicolas de Largillière seems to have depicted them more than once, but when I saw an example from Louis de Silvestre I got curious! Unfortunately, I can’t find anything about them. Do you know anything about them? Thanks!

Hi!

This is pretty much "fancy dress", or we could think about them as "costumes". The choice of the outfits for these kind of portraits have more to do with symbolism and the figures that might the sitters represent, than with fashion.

So, these underbust/stays might very much not even have existed in the real world, and be drawn with references and the artist's imagination, or being something taken from the stage.

Instead of looking for the actual garment, you can look for what that particular design detail (the pointed center front) represents for the characters: is it a nod to armour? a nod to a shepherdess? a theatrical costume detail? I think there is more chance to find your answer this way.

Good luck and let us know when you find out!!

[18th-century-mental-health]

Since I'm in a naval mood, have my three favourite pirates

[somethingwithmoles]

Louis Dorigny (attributed to), Self-Portrait, between 1712 and 1730, oil on canvas, 92 x 77 cm, Museo Civico di Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Bartolomeo Bimbi (1648-1729) "Oranges, Limes, Lemons, and Citrus lumia" (1715) Oil on canvas

[ltwilliammowett]

Crown Compass, Lübeck, Danemark, 1735

The compass card is inscribed Berendt Burmester , Lubeck 1735 and the glass is inscribed with Freja and Aarhus

[jeannepompadour]

Portrait of Lucy Parke Byrd (1685-1716), 1700s-1716

[artschoolglasses]

Portion of a Handscroll of Ten Homoerotic (Nanshoku) Scenes, Miyagawa Choshun, Early 18th Century

[desimonewayland]

Armchair, made in Paris circa 1720

Carved and gilded beech wood

Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris