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'Walking dresses' for the Paris Public Promenade, December 1844

17 of 43 portraits by George Henderson

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'Walking dresses' for the Paris Public Promenade, December 1844

published by George Henderson, published in The Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, Music and Romance
hand-coloured etching, published December 1844
7 5/8 in. x 4 3/4 in. (193 mm x 121 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1930
Reference Collection
NPG D47944

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Described in the magazine:
Walking Dresses - For the Paris Public Promenade. Levantine robe, the colour is that shade of olive called terre d'Alger[?], the corsage made tight to the shape, and quite high, is trimmed en revers with two bands of dark brown velvet placed at some distance from each other, forming a coeur, the centre of which is decorated with fancy silk trimming; long tight sleeve terminating in a rounded point, which partially covers the hand; it is bordered by a velvet band. Close mancheron decorated with two bands. The skirt is decorated in the same style as the centre of the corsage, but in a reversed form, and on a larger scale. Puce coloured velvet chapeau, the brim round, rather deep, and descending low at the sides, is bordered with a trimming of ribbon to correspond. The exterior is decorated in a very novel manner, with an intermixture of ribbon and white têtes de plumes.
Second Figure. Violet satin robe, the corsage is high and close. Tight sleeve, a three quarter length, displaying an under one of muslin bouillonné. The skirt is trimmed high with three rows of broad fringe. Black figured satin mantle, a three-quarter length, it closes invisible in front, is made scanty at top, but of ample width at the bottom and fits close round the neck. Square pelerine of two falls bordered with velvet, of which the collar is also composed; Wide sleeve a three quarter length; a deep velvet cuff. A revers of velvet gradually increasing in size from the top to the bottom, ornaments the front of the mantle. Black velvet bonnet lined with green satin, a small round shape; the interior is trimmed with a knot of green satin ribbon on one side, and a tuft of wide flowers without foliage on the other; the brim is edged with green ribbon, disposed in a wreath of close coques. Green ribbon, and two white ostrich feathers, the beards thickened with marabouts, decorate the exterior.

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Current affairs

Britain experiences a railway boom. Peel's government passes a series of Acts creating provision of cheap, regular rail services. George Hudson, the first great railway entrepreneur, who controlled over 1,000 miles of railway track and whose enterprises made York a major commercial and transport hub, becomes known as 'the Railway King'.

Art and science

Disraeli's Coningsby is published. The first of his 1840s 'Young England' trilogy, it was the cultural manifesto of Disraeli's vision for a new Conservativism.
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson set up their innovative and pioneering photography studio in Edinburgh, capturing portraits of both Scottish society figures and workers, as well as urban and rural landscape scenes.

International

Tensions continue to mount in Eastern Europe over Russian imperialist ambitions, as Tsar Nicholas I describes the Ottoman Empire as 'the Sick Man of Europe'.
With the overthrow of the Haitians, the Spanish-speaking portion of the island of Hispaniola gains independence, as the Dominican Republic.

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