The XVIIIth century; its institutions, customs, and costumes France, 1700-1789 . cane, which they held in themiddle, like the suissc at the door of a noblemans residence. Thisled to the introduction of very costly canes made of scented wood,tortoise shell and ivorj-. The fans, which were at first used forfanning, eventually became more ornamental than useful, and thecommonest were made of scented wood, while the most expensivewere of tortoise shell and ivorj-, incrusted with ivory and preciousstones, and painted by artists of great talent. The pocket handker-chiefs, which were very small and w
The XVIIIth century; its institutions, customs, and costumes France, 1700-1789 . cane, which they held in themiddle, like the suissc at the door of a noblemans residence. Thisled to the introduction of very costly canes made of scented wood,tortoise shell and ivorj-. The fans, which were at first used forfanning, eventually became more ornamental than useful, and thecommonest were made of scented wood, while the most expensivewere of tortoise shell and ivorj-, incrusted with ivory and preciousstones, and painted by artists of great talent. The pocket handker-chiefs, which were very small and were made of valuable lace em-broidered with ofold and coloured silks, also ceased to be more thana mere set-off to the whole costume. The reign of Louis XV. gave a wonderful impulse to twobranches of trade, which were looked upon as fine arts, viz., theboot and shoe trade and that of the coiffeur. The ladies shoe-maker DJ?£SS AND FASHIONS. 473 was almost an artist, for he made such small shoes in every colourof leather, set off with gold and silver embroidery, and with high. Fij;. 301.—Shoe buckle*. narrow heels, that they were the most elegant part of the wholedress. The price of these luxurious shoes Avith their buckles in goldor cut steel, was as great as that of many articles of jewellery. The 474 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. prince of shoe-makers at that period was, thanks to the patronageof the Comtesse du Barrj-, a German called Efftein, who wassucceeded by a Frenchman of the name of Bourdon. Mensshoes were also ornamented with buckles carved and chased(Fig. 301). The fashions in head-dresses varied even oftener than those inshoes, and the number of ladies hair-dressers increased so much, thatthere were no less than 1200 of them in Paris in 1769, when thecorporation of wig-makers proceeded against them for exercisingtheir trade without due authority. The advocate of the persecutedhair-dressers published the following laughable protest in defence ofhis clients :— The art
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