Fashion Plate No. 297 from Journal des Dames et des Modes

The woman in this print makes the opposite impression of her counterpart holding the backwards guitar (see Mia P.16, 081). She carries a book entitled “SOLFEGE” (music theory). These musical exercises place syllables (like Do-Re-Mi) onto musical scalesto teach sightreading, the technique of singing from a musical score without hearing the tune beforehand. This kind of skilled musicianship required dedication and thus casts this woman as a serious student or teacher of music. The back of this image has musical notation scrawled on it. Perhaps the plate was owned by a well-trained woman musician.