Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1780, jj 196 : Polonaise vue par derrièr (...) 1780

Curator: What we have here is an engraving from 1780 titled "Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Fran\u00e7ais, 1780, jj 196 : Polonaise vue par derri\u00e8r (...)" by J. Pelicier. It depicts a fashionable woman in elaborate dress. Editor: It has an almost cartoonish quality! The detail in her gown contrasts sharply with the simple lines of the background, and the scene seems almost theatrical. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Well, I immediately focus on the material conditions embedded within. Think of the labor involved: from the mining of the metals used to create the engraving plate to the production of paper. Then consider the elaborate attire. Every ruffle, every feather signals extensive human labor, likely exploiting unseen workers. What can that tell us about 18th-century France? Editor: That it highlights a huge disparity in social classes! Her dress looks incredibly expensive, whilst the other figure's worn attire shows relative poverty. So you’re saying the very creation and depiction of this fashion plate depended on a system of inequality? Curator: Exactly. Even the 'art' of fashion itself, usually placed within a rarefied cultural space, relies on the concrete realities of production. How are class structures reinforced through these depictions of everyday life? Do you see this 'high art' actually legitimizing certain modes of production? Editor: That's really eye-opening. I usually consider art prints as documents, records of past aesthetics, but it is much more involved. Thinking about the actual production pushes me to consider questions about economics. Curator: Precisely! Next time we observe such fine detail, perhaps think about who spun the threads for her hairpiece, or mined metal, for instance. The beauty is deeply embedded in tangible creation. Editor: Thanks! I’ll never look at Rococo the same way.