Dame de Qualité en habit d'Este 1706

Curator: Well, here we have Bernard Picart's engraving, "Dame de Qualité en habit d'Este," created in 1706. It resides, fittingly, in the Rijksmuseum's collection. Editor: Oh, isn't that just... a tower of ruffles! It's almost comical how the fabric seems to overwhelm the figure, like a meringue threatening to consume a tiny cherry on top. It definitely brings out the Materialist in me. Curator: A perfectly baroque confection, wouldn’t you say? This is engraving, after all; the meticulous, almost obsessive detail in rendering the layers of fabric is astounding. Can you imagine the labour that went into both the dress and the printing plate? Editor: Indeed. Think about the textile industry at the time. Those ruffles, the presumed quality of that cloth... it all points to very specific modes of production and a system where adornment equals capital. It is far away from the everyday garment to offer both visual pleasure and also protection. It is purely spectacle here. Curator: Absolutely. But beyond the economic context, consider also the artist's hand. Picart's skill in capturing light and texture with just lines! There's a dedication here. It transcends mere documentation of fashion and leans into pure art. Almost obsessively documenting, commenting and poking at societal and economic structures of early eighteenth century, but doing so in a manner where fantasy feels present, too. Editor: True, true. The technique allows the illustration to become symbolic beyond just its context. The "quality lady" isn't just displaying status but advertising labour, and, in the end, displaying capital as an available item in itself. This reminds of more contemporary portrait work done around "materiality" in general - portraits built entirely from the belongings of a certain class. It's provocative, as the composition really emphasizes that gap between labor and person, wealth and ownership. Curator: A fascinating way to phrase it! This reminds me of an old, quirky family secret, when seeing all this excess on a page. It evokes this mixture of the bizarre and strangely relatable— a tiny snapshot, frozen in time, now available again for display after a couple of centuries. Editor: Yes, in its materiality, in its display, this print, "Dame de Qualité en habit d'Este," presents us with a perfect example of constructed social standing, printed and reproduced.