1807 June Couple In Morning Dress, English. Lady in white dress with lemon cape and an interesting white hat with a tassel. Gentleman in black tailcoat, white shirt and cravat, breeches tucked into high black boots with tan tops, fob and watch chain at his waist, black top hat and cane. via Le Beau Monde, or Literary and Fashionable Magazine, London, U.K.
Definition Morning Dress: Comfortable outfits worn either at home, out shopping, or for walking in the park or country. Presentable but not overly accessorized. For women it was often an Empire style, high-waisted, gown made from sprigged or plain muslin, cotton, or wool and either a Spencer or a coat to cover it for warmth, plus shoes and a bonnet. For men it was breeches or trousers, shirt, cravat, coat, boots and hat. This couple is dressed as a lady and gentleman of Jane Austen’s acquaintance would dress for a morning outing to a village, for shopping, or visiting friends.
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26
What did Jane Austen and friends wear? This book looks at early 1800s fashions, which were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer.
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On January 27th, 1772, The Pantheon opened on Oxford Street, London. Designed by James Wyatt, The Pantheon featured a rotunda which was one of the largest rooms in England at the time. The Pantheon was intended as London’s answer to Ranelagh Gardens for winter entertainment and opened to a crush when nearly “two thousand persons of rank and fashion assembled.” The Pantheon officially closed for public entertainments in 1814, after Lord Chamberlain restrictions on the building’s use as a theatre made the final venture unprofitable. It was converted to a bazaar in 1833 and in 1867 became a winemakers office and showrooms until being demolished in 1937.
From 1819 Ackermann: The Pantheon was built “for the purpose of public evening entertainments” and was a “superb and beautiful structure” with elegant interiors furnished with fine paitnings, gilt vases, and statues depicting gods and goddesses. The building consisted of a suite of fourteen rooms, and between 1789-1792 (until a fire) was used as an exhibition space for Italian operas after the destruction by fire of the King’s Theatre in Haymarket.
1814 January The Pantheon via Ackermann’s Repository : This once noble structure, situated on the south side of Oxford-street, was originally built by Mr. James Wyatt, for the purpose of public evening entertainments. It was a most superb and beautiful structure, the admiration of all connoisseurs, foreigners as well as natives. The interior was fitted up in such a magnificent style, that it is scarcely possible for those who never saw it to conceive the elegance and grandeur of the apartments, the boldness of the paintings, or the effect produced by the disposition of the lights, which were reflected from gilt vases. Below the dome were a number of statues, representing most of the heathen gods and goddesses, supposed to be the ancient Pantheon at Rome, from which it derived its name. To these were added three beautiful statues of white porphyry, representing the King and Queen and Britannia.
The whole building formed a suite of fourteen rooms, each affording a striking specimen of taste and splendor. After the destruction of the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket by fire in June 1789, the Pantheon was used for the exhibition of Italian operas, and was frequently honored with the presence of their Majesties; till on the 14th of January, 1792, this beautiful structure also fell a prey to the same devouring element.
The fire broke out in the new buildings which had been added for the most convenient performance of operas; and before any engine reached the spot, the flames had gained such a height, that all attempts to save the building were in vain. Owing to the scenery, oil, paint and other combustible materials in the house, the conflagration was so rapid that not a single article could be saved. Persons who witnessed the progress of this tremendous fire, declare that the appearances exhibited through the windows, the lofty pillars enveloped in flames and smoke, the costly damask curtains waving from the rarefaction of the air, and the superb chandeliers turning round from the same circumstance, together with the successive crashing and falling of different portions of the building, furnished to their minds a more lively representation of Pandemonium than the imagination alone cam possibly supply.
The effects, too, of the intense frost which then prevailed, upon the water poured from the engines upon the blazing pile, are described as equally singular and magnificent. The loss occasioned by this catastrophe amounted to £60,000; only one fourth of which sum was insured. The height of the walls fortunately prevented the conflagration from spreading to the contiguous houses.
The Pantheon has been rebuilt; the original elegant front and portico still remain, but the rest of the edifice exhibits not eve a shadow of its former magnificence. Since its re-edification, it has been used principally for exhibitions, and occasionally for masquerades. Various plans have at different times been brought forward for opening it for dramatic representations; and this was actually done a few months since under a license from the magistrates, by a Mr. Condy, who is understood to have embarked a considerable fortune in the concern; but whose right has been contested by the winter theatres, and is likely to become a subject of legal discussion.
1800 Pantheon Masquerade, London, U.K. via Rudolph Ackermann’s Microcosm of London. Engraved by John Bluck. (1791-1831)
1830-1839 ca. Black Evening Slippers, British. Black silk, rosette on front, straps. Made By East, Boot & Shoe Maker, Britain. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A.
1830s Shoes: Producing different shoes for right and left feet started around 1830 in France. In these first attempts, little paper labels on the insoles of the shoes indicated left and right. However, the shoes were still made on straight lasts with no differentiation between the left and right foot. By the end of the 19th century, producing left and right shoes had become common as shoemakers then worked with combinations of sole and vamp cuts tailored to fit either the right or the left foot. The first steps towards the mechanisation of shoemaking were taken during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1810, engineer Marc Brunel developed a machinery that could mass-produce nailed boots for the soldiers of the British Army. But after the end of the war in 1815, manual labour became cheap, and the demand for military shoes declined. The industrialization of shoemaking began around 1830.
1826 Almack’s Revisited by Charles White. The ball of this evening passed off as all other balls at the same place, creating envy, jealousy, and hatred in the minds of many of those who have been unsuccessful in procuring tickets; affording real amusement to few, and disappointing a greater portion of those who, by dint of manoeuvring, petitioning, parliamentary interest, or presents, have been enabled to obtain the desired vouchers; and as this was one of the last balls of the season, and a general election already talked of, the mixture of company and the number was much greater than usual; and, consequently, it was what the most correct persons called, “horrid bad Almack’s!”
Almack’s or Willis’s Rooms, King Street, St James, London, UK. Almack’s Assembly Rooms, founded by William Almack at No. 26-28, were on the site of the present Almack House. The club was originally a gaming establishment but moved from Pall Mall. The Assembly rooms were on the South side of King Street in St James’s and were opened on February 12, 1765. At the time the subscription was ten guineas for which there was a ball and supper each week for the twelve weeks of the season.
1826 Almack’s Revisited by Charles White.: ‘It was what most correct persons called ‘horrid bad Almack’s’. #RegencyEra #London #BritishHistory
A portrait from 1810-1814 of Rudolph Ackermann, shop owner and founder of ‘The Repository Of Arts’ magazine, The Strand, London. via National Portrait Gallery, London. Plus, an image of Ackermann’s premises in 1809. His ‘Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashion, Manufactures, etc.’ was published from 1809 to 1829 with images of Regency London, Regency furnishings and grand homes as well as beautiful fashion prints and descriptions every month. Ackermann originally supplied artists, amateur and professional, with supplies for watercolor painting. In 1799, he began manufacturing and selling his own watercolor paint blocks which were supplied by other colourmen, although at least three colors were his own mixture – Ackermann’s Green, White and Yellow. From 1817, his eldest son Rudolph Ackermann junior was responsible for the watercolor manufacturing. Ackermann also trained as a carriage designer. He began publishing prints and colour-plate books like ‘The Microcosm of London’ and ‘Doctor Syntax’ in the early 1800s.
The Repository of Arts was one the most popular magazines in Jane Austen’s time as it displayed everything ladies wanted to learn e.g. history, important country seats and houses in England, music, current events such as theatre plays, plus fashion plates and embroidery patterns. Ackermann’s shop in The Strand, London, was one of the fashionable places to shop during the Regency Era. The Repository also included poetry, travel reports, society reports and upcoming lectures. It also included serious subjects e.g. politics, legal matters, medicine and agriculture, a meteorological journal and details of the London markets. In 1817, the price of the magazine was 4 Shillings, so quite expensive for the time.
In the first issue, published for January 1809, Ackermann included an ‘introduction to the history of the useful and polite arts’ which said: “It is universally admitted, that to cultivate a taste for the arts, and an acquaintance with the sciences, is a pleasure of the most refined nature; but to do this without regard to its influence upon the passions and affections, is to ‘tear a tree for its blossoms, which is capable of yielding the richest and most valuable fruit.’ The cultivation of this taste may and ought to be subservient to higher and more important purposes: it should dignify and exalt our affections, and elevate them to the admiration and love of that Being who is the author of every thing that is fair, sublime, and good in nature.”
1810-1814 Portrait of Rudolph Ackermann, shop owner and founder of The Repository Of Arts magazine. via National Portrait Gallery, London.
1809 January Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, 101 Strand, London, U.K. Drawn by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson. Published By Rudolph Ackermann. Etching and aquatint with hand coloring.
1787 St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, U.K. By T. Malton. A favorite place to be married for the Regency aristocracy during Bridgerton and Jane Austen times, but also a haunt of pickpockets.
From the Edinburgh Annual Register 1810: Complaints have been made of numerous robberies, by daring gangs of pickpockets in the daytime, in the public streets, also at churches, chapels, and meetings, particularly at St. George’s church, Hanover-square. The Countess of Aylesford, and several other ladies of distinction, having been robbed there, mentioned the circumstances to Townsend, the officer. The Countess of Aylesford said, she had no doubt but she was robbed by a short fat woman. Townsend went to the church and observed Mary Blakeman, alias Hills, a well-known female pickpocket, genteelly dressed in a black velvet pelisse and a cottage straw bonnet. When he called her outside, no stolen property was found on her person, despite him knowing her to be a thief for 25 years.
1826 The Cyprian’s Ball At the Argyll Rooms. A Regency Gentleman’s Life. From The English Spy By Robert Cruikshank. RL_2_D2D_RetailerBuyLink_RL_2
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1845-1865 ca. Cream Silk Evening Slippers, British. Cream evening shoes with ankle ties and lace trim. Trim is unusual because mid 19th Century ladies’ shoes were often plain as only toes showed beneath fashionable long skirts. Designed By Hobbs, famous London shoemaker, and with a label attached to lining with a regal crest to show maker’s royal patronage. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Fashion Women 1815-1819 History Notes Book 28 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819
1823 Hackney Cab, London, U.K. This small cabriolet was built by coach builder, David Davies, and licensed for public convenience. Name ‘hackney’ derived from village of Hackney, Middlesex, famous for horse drawn carriages. French word cabriolet was shortened to cab, hence ‘Hackney Cab’. In 1813, there were 1100 hackney coaches for hire in London. Designs changed constantly and in 1834 Joseph Hansom registered his design for a cabriolet named ‘Hansom Cab’.
1823 Hackney Cab, London, U.K. This small cabriolet was built by coach builder, David Davies, and licensed for public convenience. Name ‘hackney’ derived from village of Hackney, Middlesex, famous for horse drawn carriages. French word cabriolet was shortened to cab, hence ‘Hackney Cab’.D2D_RetailerBuyLink_HN_10. books2read.com/SuziLoveTravel
1800 ca. Pair of Flintlock Duelling Pistols. Owned by Captain William Waller (active 1794-1807). Walnut stock, chequered grips, rounded butts, fitted with two silver pipes containing ramrods. Silver trigger guards engraved and end in pineapple shaped finials, each with flintlock containing flints. Lock plates engraved with leaf design, octagonal barrels browned with narrow gold bands near lock. via Royal Museums Greenwich collections.rmg.co.uk
During the Regency Era and Jane Austen’s writing years, dueling was illegal, although secret duels still happened. Courts were made up of peers and they rarely charged another peer for anything illegal. Honor and gentlemanly behavior were the most important things to men so if there was an offense committed, a dawn duel was arranged with seconds to check the weapons used and a doctor in case of injuries.
