Incroyable et Merveilleuse

Incroyable et Merveilleuse was a set of 33 engravings, published in 1814 , depicting extremely fashionable French men and women. They were engraved by George-Jacques Gatine after drawings by Horace Vernet and Louis-Marie Lanté. Whilst most fashion plates were on a small scale, designed to fit in women's magazines such as the Journal des Dames (which Gatine contributed to), the Incroyable et Merveilleuse plates were on a grander scale, designed for print collectors. Gatine's fashion engravings, particularly the Incroyable et Merveilleuse series, are now considered some of the finest records of French fashion of this period.

The Incroyable et Merveilleuse plates are particularly valuable as a record of men's fashion. This engraving shows a man in a green tail-coat cut away in front, worn over a pink and white striped waistcoat with white kerseymere breeches that button and tie at the knees. His black leather boots are called top-boots due to the buff-coloured cuff at the top. He carries a black high-crowned hat and a slim cane, and has a bunch of seals and fobs at his waist. Neckcloths were particularly important to the fashionable gentleman at this period, and were able to be folded and tied in many different ways. These styles often bore names such as Mathematical, Oriental and 'trone d'amour' (love-knot). The particular arrangement shown here, tied with the ends of the neckcloth flying free, is described as 'oreilles de lièvre', or hare's ears.