Page:Costume, fanciful, historical, and theatrical (1906).djvu/204

160 classes of society had recourse to wigs, the rich employing natural hair for the purpose, and the poor, wool. A typical example of a fashionable perruque took the form of a densely-braided mass which covered the head as efficaciously as a mat, one large plait coming down at either side of the face, and curving round on the shoulder in the shape of an elephant's trunk. The crown of the



head was usually encircled by a slender golden fillet, which, in the case of a Pharaoh, or a royal lady, was twined about with the uræus, emblem of supreme sovereignty. The head of the sacred asp reared threateningly in the centre of the forehead. Cleopatra—not the famous Cleopatra of Mark Antony, but one of her five predecessors—is represented with the bare bosom, naked arms, circular collar, and skin-tight skirt common to her country-women. A noteworthy feature is that her dress, of bright blue and white material, shows horizontal stripes to the knees, where it is joined by a slightly