Le Stratageme Amoureux

DateCa. 1775

MediumBlack and white line engraving and etching

DimensionsOH: 13 3/4" x OW: 9 7/8"; plate: 9" x 12 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1962-215

DescriptionLower margin reads: "LE STRATAGEME AMOUREUX./ Ou la Toilette a la mode/ De ce riche vieillard que je plains le malheur./ Tout conspire à sa perte en ce jour de douleur;/ Car la belle Cloris dune main elegante,/ Remet à son amant, une lêttre charmante:/ Tandis que la guenon, l'Amour, et la nature,/ Sunifsent tout les trois, pour nueux lui faire injure!"
Label TextA French print similar to the English Macaroni prints of the time. A young woman sits on a sofa. Her hair is dressed in the most exagerated style of the time. Taller than she is, the hair is pulled straight up in front, wound in a large braid in back, and now is being set in great curls across the top. The front is draped with a flower garland. Sitting on a chair very close to the young woman is an elderly man. He is pressing kisses up the arm of the young woman. Three cupid like figures are engaged in fixing this hair style and in passing notes to a young man who is leaning out of a window just above the woman. There are two large jars, one containing powder, and one pomade next to the young woman. The cupid figures are using a rope ladder to climb to the top of the hair-do to add more curls to it. Beside the young lady is a pulley with a basket on the end to send the notes up to her young lover. A monkey perches on the arm of the elderly man's chair.