This print by René Gaillard reproduces a painting entitled 'La Marchande de Modes' made in 1746 by François Boucher (1703-1770). It was commissioned by Louise Ulrika, the Princess Royal of Prussia and future Queen of Sweden through the Swedish ambassador to the French Court, Count Carl Gustaf Tessin. It was one of a set of four planned to represent times of the day and represents morning. This subject was the only one of the four to be completed. Louise Ulrika specified that it should represent ‘a woman who has had her hair done, is still in her dressing gown, and amuses herself with looking at the trifles a milliner has spread out' (Dulau, p.92).

As well as reflecting contemporary fashion, this image is also rich in interior detail in a muted Rococo style inspired by the work of contemporary designers like Jacques-François Blondel (1705-1774), who by the 1750s were reacting against the excesses of Rococo.

The print shows a Marchande de Modes displaying her box of trimmings to her wealthy client. The Marchands de Modes catered for the top end of the retail market. These were marchands merciersor their wives, who developed their retail businesses to take advantage of the consumer boom that continued throughout the eighteenth century. They were not dress makers but retailers who sold trimmings for clothing such as silks, ribbons and lace. Increasingly as the eighteenth century progressed they advised their clients on the latest fashions and some embellished clients’ dresses with the trimmings that they selected. They displayed their creations in attractively appointed shops in the most fashionable shopping locations. Some Marchands de Modes focussed more on the retail side of the business, expanding their range to include exotic trinkets and other fashionable accessories such as snuffboxes and fans. By the middle of the eighteenth century shopping had become an established leisure activity and certain Marchands' shops such as 'Le Petit Dunkerque', which opened in 1767, became places for the most fashionable shoppers to be seen.

European mercers played a role in the manfacture of textiles and the boom in consumerism in Europe that occurred from the later seventeenth and into the eighteenth century. Their purchasing practices took account of their consumers' desire for novelty and also attempted to encourage new uses of the textiles. For example, Indian cotton, long used for household linens, were by end of the seventeenth century now used in stockings, cuffs, shirts, headdresses, sleeves and petticoats as calicoes, chintzes and muslins. The mercers also encouraged increased consumption by prompting producers in Asia and at home to introduce seasonally changing patterns in their textiles. The major centres for trade with Asia from the end of the seventeenth and into the eighteenth centuries were the Southeast Indian coast and Bengal, and Canton in China. Textiles were also home-produced throughout Europe and silk was even grown in France where Lyons emerged as a silk production centre of international reputation.