Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572 - detail

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Date:1572 - 1580 (c.)

Description:A merchant’s wife and her companion in Shakespeare's London.

Shakespeare's leading ladies frequently reflect contemporary practice by having a companion, or housekeeper, who is not a servant but of a similar social status as themselves. Maria in Twelfth Night accompanies the lady Olivia, and marries Sir Toby Belch, while Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing is companion to Beatrice. The mistress in this engraving wears a gown with 'hanging sleeves' over a hooped 'farthingale' skirt. Her companion has a simpler bodice, and an apron over her 'farthingale'. Both wear stylish ruffs of starched linen at the neck.

Full title: Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, [from Civitates orbis terrarum. Coloniae Agrippinae, 1572 - c.1580](hand-coloured copy)


Timeline

The timeline shows resources around this location over a number of years.

1570s
Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572  - detail - decorative title panel
Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572 - detail - decorative title panel

'Londinium': ancient capital of Shakespeare's England. London had been founded ...

1590s
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597]
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597]

London Bridge, looking upstream in Shakespeare's time. London's medieval bridge ...

1610s
Jodocus Hondius, America, 1619 Map of the Americas - whole map, hand-coloured.
Jodocus Hondius, America, 1619 Map of the Americas - whole map, hand-coloured.

The Americas in the reign of James I, Shakespeare’s patron. Courtiers of ...

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Donor ref:SR/OS Flat storage 87.9 [27,234] (33/10684)

Source: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Library

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