Ball and dinner dresses, February 1841

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation

Ball and dinner dresses, February 1841

published by Dobbs & Co, published in The Court Magazine and Monthly Critic and Lady's Magazine and Museum, first published in Le Follet, Courrier des Salons, Journal des Modes
hand-coloured etching, line and stipple engraving, published February 1841
8 1/8 in. x 5 3/4 in. (205 mm x 147 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1930
Reference Collection
NPG D47872

Artistsback to top

This portraitback to top

Described in the Court Magazine:
First figure - Dress of blond over satin, the skirt ornamented with two immensely deep flounces, put on nearly plain. Corsage of satin, à pointe with three seams in front. The sleeves short and tight, with four tucks or folds in which ribbons are inserted, are finished by deep blonde engageantes, with blonde Berthe to match. The back hair is en chignon, and dressed very low, the front brought low to the sides of the head, where it is braided and fastened at the ear in two circles (one within the other) with a gold ornament, a couronne à la Vestale, of gold chain work and precious stones, goes entirely round the head above the brow. Bows of satin ribbon on the sleeves and front of the corsage, bracelet on the right arm above the white kid glove, feather screen.
2nd. Figure - Dress of figured gauze over satin. The corsage low, and à pointe. Sleeves very short and perfectly plain and tight, berthe of the material of the dress. The skirt has two deep tucks, ornamented at distances with bows of geranium colour ribbon, a third row of bows is placed above the upper tuck, and a fourth row of very small ones goes round the top of the skirt, a short distance below the waist. Hair in bands, part of the back hair forms a braid, and the remainder is in ringlets falling at each side of the neck, a puffing of geranium colour ribbon is intermixed with the back hair, and a rosette bow of the same is placed immediately below the left ear. Festoons of pearls depending from the braid at back fall over the front hair. Bracelet on the right arm, white kid gloves, with a quilling of satin ribbon at top, fan, white satin shoes.

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1841back to top

Current affairs

Sir Robert Peel's second term as Prime Minister. Peel replaces the Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne after a Conservative general election victory. The English comic periodical Punch is first published, under the auspices of engraver Ebenezer Landells and writer Henry Mayhew, and quickly establishes itself as a radical commentary on the arts, politics and current affairs, notable for its heavily satirised cartoons.

Art and science

Thomas Carlyle publishes his set of lectures On Heroes and Hero Worship, in which he attempts to connect past heroic figures to significant figures form the present.
William Henry Fox Talbot invents the calotype process, in which photographs were developed from negatives. This allowed for multiple copies of images to be made, and was the basis of modern, pre-digital, photographic processing.

International

Signing of the Straits Convention, an international agreement between Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, Russia and Turkey, denying access to non-Ottoman warships through the seas connecting the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, a major concession by Russia. Whilst signalling a spirit of co-operation, the convention emphasises the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.