In the early years of the 18th century, Bernard Picard, best known for his great illustrated work on the religions of the world, made a few small and very neat engravings of fashionable ladies, which were published in Amsterdam in the 1720s. These engravings, some dated 1703, should not be classed as fashion plates; like the Le Clerc engraving of the man in rhinegrave breeches (fig. 15), they are from drawing books. Some of them, part reengraved by G. Bickham, Jr., were reissued in London after 1732.[37] In Paris there was a revival of the fashion plate in the late 1720s. The still-existing _Mercure de France_, direct successor of the _Mercure Galant_, carried an occasional fashion article with engravings of dress accessories. In March 1729 (fig. 27), there is a not-very-well-defined sketch of a lady with her page, meeting a gentleman. The accompanying paragraphs are not valuable but contain a recommendation for “garnitures” to be had from La Demoiselle Perronet, in the Cour Abbatial of St. Germain des Pres. As for “coeffures et têtes . . . on les coeffe sur une poupée.” In the same year, 1729, a set of eight fashion plates entitled _Recueil des Differentes Modes du Temps_ was issued by Herisset apparently to advertise a modiste called Chéreau at the “Grand St. Remy” in the Rue St. Jacques. They are carefully drawn and show back and front views as well as indicating materials (fig. 28). No accompanying text has been found, but as they are known in two versions, one said to have been printed in Germany, it is likely that some descriptions were prepared for the export market.[38] The French engravers working in England--Gravelot, Grignon, and Boitard--produced some dated portraits of English ladies which can be used as fashion illustrations. The caricature scenes, “Taste à la Mode, 1735” and “Taste à la Mode, 1745,” published by Robert Sayer in 1749,[39] also may serve as records of fashion. There was, however, no journal of fashion in England before the reign of George III. Indeed, there seems to have been no publication or series of prints to give guidance to the fashion trade in Europe in the mid-18th century. [Illustration: Figure 26.--DRESSED PRINT, ca. 1695. The engraving of Madame la Duchesse d’Aumont is embellished with small pieces of velvet, figured silk, and lace. (_Courtesy of The Pierpont Morgan Library._)] [Illustration: Figure 27.--FASHION PLATE depicting a lady with her page being saluted by a gentleman. From the _Mercure de France_, March 1729. (_Courtesy of British Museum, London._)] [Illustration: Figure 28.--FASHION PLATE, the first of the series _Recueil des differentes Modes du Temps_. The fabric of the dress on the right is a moiré or watered silk, on the left a “lace-pattern” brocade, often wrongly ascribed to the period of Louis XIII (1610-43). Issued by Herisset, ca. 1730. (Author’s collection.)]