The histories of Madras and tartan become especially entangled in the language used to describe them. In the late 1700s and early 1800s a vogue for Highland dress made Scottish tartan widely fashionable in Europe. This etching is a satirical response to the popularity of ‘Highland’ dress in Paris in 1815.

As more Europeans became familiar with tartan through Highland fashion, they started using the word 'tartan' to describe the checked patterns they encountered in other parts of the world (Database #945), blurring the distinctions between those fabrics and Scottish tartan.

Related Database Records

  • Entry no. <945>:
La nouvelle mode ou l'Ecossais à Paris Auguste Blanchard fils aîné Paris, France, 1815 © The Trustees of the British Museum, 1992,0516.57