Coloured cartoon from the Northern Looking Glass 28 November 1825, the first of seven illustrations under the heading "Evening Fashions and New Quadrilles". This illustration shows the steps of Le Pantalon.
The illustrator William Heath wrote in this edition that he had to "...plead guilty to not reflecting the fashions of the day and this is in response to customer requests... The Looking Glass presents the new fashions in conjunction with the new quadrilles through the favour of Monsieur Boulogne..." and goes on to give a description of each of the seven dances.
Dancing was a popular entertainment in Glasgow and several dancing teachers advertised their private classes in the city's newspapers and other publications. Quadrilles are traditional French "square dances" for sets of four couples and became popular in the United Kingdom at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Reference: Sp Coll Bh14-x.8
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
dancers, dancing, fashions, Glasgow Looking Glass, Le Pantalon, lithographs, Northern Looking Glass, quadrilles, women