Depictions of men and women wearing patterned handkerchiefs

In many of the hand-colored mezzotints, different colorists choose different color combinations – or even entirely different patterns – on the same kerchiefs in different versions; I've grouped these together for comparison.

Domestick Employment, Washing; the young woman wears a printed handkerchief

Jersey Nanny by John Greenwood, 1748; a dark-colored kerchief with a pattern of lighter-colored checks

Kitchen scene by Paul Sandby, c. 1754; she wears a white handkerchief with yellow stripes

Andrew Wilkinson, 1755; a handkerchief with a floral (resist?) pattern is wrapped and tied tightly at his neck

Salad Girl, 1758; white dots on a colored ground

London Cries: A Milkmaid by Paul Sandby, c. 1759; the milkmaid wears a spotted handkerchief tied around her head, under her straw hat

Dr Oliver and Mr Peirce, the First Physician and Surgeon Examining Patients Afflicted with Paralysis, Rheumatism and Leprosy by William Hoare, 1761; a female patient wears a checked yellow and red handkerchief, while it appears that a male patient wears a patterned handkerchief wrapped tightly arouund his neck

The Marriage Contract by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1761

Woman with a blue smock by Louis Philippe Boitard; the blue garment appears to be a speckled handkerchief

High Life Below Stairs by John Collet, 1763; one servant (a housekeeper or cook?) wears a striped handkerchief, while a laundress wears a spotted handkerchief

The Ballad Singer by Henry Robert Morland, c. 1764; the pattern appears to be a tie-dye (akin to those in Bandhani = Bandana or Bandannoes), which is easier to see in A Girl Singing Ballads By a Paper Lanthorn

Modern Love: The Elopement by John Collet, 1764; the coachman (or postilion?) wears a blue handkerchief with white spots

Several checked or striped handkerchiefs on women in the Cries of Danzig, c. 1765, including pages 7, 8, 14, 25, 27, 32, 37, etc.

A young woman shucking oysters by lamplight by Henry Robert Morland; she wears a striped handkerchief that is large enough to wrap around her and ties behind her waist. See also Oyster Girl and The Oyster Seller.

A City Shower by Edward Penny, 1764; a spotted handkerchief on a young woman

The Return from the Fair by Edward Penny, 1765

The Young Sportsman by Robert Edge Pine, 1766; he holds a red and white printed handkerchief

A dark-colored (perhaps maroon?) kerchief with red diamonds and white circles on A Girl Singing Ballads by a Paper Lanthorn by Henry Morland, c. 1765-1782 and The Pretty Ballad Singer by Henry Morland, c. 1768-1775

A lady in a printed handkerchief with a striped border in The Lover’s Disguise, c. 1766-1799

The Recruiting Sergeant by John Collet, 1767; a few different patterns on various figures, including stripes and spots

William, Sixth Baron Craven by Francis Cotes, 1768; a dark red handkerchief with white spots is in his hat

The Oyster Woman, 1769; a striped handkerchief, which seems to cross in front of the bodice

The Letter Woman, 1769; she wears the handkerchief tied around her hat, it seems to have white circles (probably tie-dye) on a darker-colored ground

The Lavie Children by Johann Zoffany, c. 1770; a red handkerchief with white spots lies on the ground next to a fishing basket

Scene in a London street by John Collet, 1770; several patterns going on, including a blue handkerchief with white spots tied around a dog's head

Figures in the background of The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, 1770

The Modern Beau in Distress, c. 1770-1775; a man wears a checked handkerchief, while a woman wears a handkerchief with a repeating pattern of three dots

The Peale Family by Charles Willson Peale, 1771-1773; a dark red handkerchief with white spots rests on the table

Woman and child with guinea pig, 1772; white handkerchief with brown (?) checks

A Ladies Maid Purchasing a Leek, 1772; the maid wears a spotted handkerchief

Spring and Winter. Le Printems et L’Hiver. c. 1785-1786; the young woman's handkerchief is white with a design of trios of purple dots with a purple striped border

The Profligate Punished by Neglect by Edward Penny, 1774; the maid's handkerchief has a subtle color-on-color double stripe

A Sticker-up of Bills on Tower Hill at the Rendezvous at the King’s Arms by Gabriel Bray, 1774; the man wears a handkerchief that appears to be checked, with a thick red check border surrounding a finer black check

High Life Below Stairs by Thomas Orde, 1774; the cook wears a striped handkerchief

Slight of hand by a monkey, or, The lady’s head unloaded, 1776; a butcher wears a spotted handkerchief

The sailor’s present, or, The jealous clown, 1778; a young woman in a double-striped handkerchief, a young man in a striped handkerchief, and a young woman in another patterned handkerchief (floral?)
The Sailor’s Present - or, The Jealous Clown, 1778; a young woman in a double-striped handkerchief, a young man in a spotted handkerchief, and a young woman in a spotted handkerchief

Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley, 1778; young man at upper left wears a pattern similar to those discussed in Bandhani = Bandana or Bandannoes, the West African crewman at the center wears a checked handkerchief

La marchande de tisane by Françoise Duparc, 1778; she wears a striped handkerchief

A Girl Buying a Ballad by Henry Walton, 1778; the old street vendor wears a dark red handkerchief with white spots (and border stripes?)

An English jack-tar giving monsieur a drubbing, 1779; the English sailor wears a spotted handkerchief

Spring, 1779; both the young woman and old woman wear blue handkerchiefs with white spots, but the patterns are slightly different
Spring, 1779; a young woman wears a blue handkerchief with white spots, while an old woman wears a dark red handkerchief with white spots
Spring, 1779; both the young woman and the old woman wear red handkerchiefs with white spots

My Wife and Your Wife, 1779; the wife on the right wears a spotted handkerchief

The Hay Cart by Francis Wheatley, 1779; one of the women seems to be wearing a dark red handkerchief with white spots

An English jack-tar giving monsieur a drubbing, 1779

The Miseries of Idleness by George Morland, 1780; the wife wears a printed handkerchief with a fancy floral pattern

Beating Up for Recruits, 1780

Youth and Age, c. 1780-1790; a spotted handkerchief on an old woman (another version)

A Cornish Hug, 1781; a woman wears a striped handkerchief

Drawing of a lady coming from the circulating library by John Raphael Smith, c. 1781; she wears a red spotted handkerchief

A poor woman wearing a striped hadnkerchief in The Rapacious Quack, 1782

The Camp Laundry, 1782; a speckled handkerchief on a young woman

The Sailor Riding to Portsmouth; the sailor wears a red handkerchief with white spots, while the landlady at the inn wears a blue handkerchief with white spots

College Breakfast, 1783; a woman wears a white handkerchief with darker-colored dots

A kitchen maid by Hugues Taraval, 1783; she wears a handkerchief with a striped pattern

College Breakfast, 1783; a maid wears a spotted handkerchief

Death of Captain James Cook by George Carter, 1783; several of the sailors wear printed handkerchiefs, including at least one in a spotted handkerchief

A Student of the Stable, 1783; he wears a spotted handkerchief

The Lovely Lavinia, 1784; a spotted handkerchief on a young woman

A St. Giles’s Beauty, 1784; the handkerchief appears to have a checked and spotted pattern, possibly a ruffle?

The Country Tooth-Drawer, 1784; a country woman wears a yellow kerchief with darker-colored spots, with darker stripes along the edges; the farrier wears a blue kerchief with white spots

Love in a Village, 1784; a spotted or floral handkerchief with a striped border on a young woman, a spotted handkerchief on a young man

Out of Place. Hors D’Emploi. 1784; the landlady wears a printed handkerchief with a pattern of dots and stripes; a politician has a dotted handkerchief poking out of his pocket

Reapers by George Stubbs, 1785; the woman at far left wears a dark red dotted handkerchief (also an enamel of Reapers from 1795 retains the same figure)

Handkerchief from the General Carleton of Whitby, 1785

The Sailor's Return by Francis Wheatley, 1786; the young sailor wears a red neckerchief with white circles (see Bandhani = Bandana or Bandannoes), while the girl wears a blue and white checked handkerchief

The Return from Market by Francis Wheatley, 1786; a woman wears a striped handkerchief, while a child behind her wears a handkerchief (possibly blue with white spots?) tied around her head

A market girl holding a mallard duck by John Russell, 1787; she wears a checked handkerchief

Molly Milton, the Pretty Oyster Woman, 1788; she wears a bright yellow handkerchief with a red floral print

Soldier with Country Women Selling Ribbons, near a Military Camp by Francis Wheatley, 1788; the country women wear colored or patterned handkerchiefs, one appears to be a check pattern while another may be a print

Visit to the Child at Nurse by George Morland, 1788; the nurse wears a spotted handkerchief

The Lord Mayor's Procession by Water to Westminster, London, 9 November 1789 by Richard Paton and Francis Wheatley; a few different patterns and colors on the women in the foreground

Timothy Matlack by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1790; he holds a handkerchief with a pattern similar to examples in Bandhani = Bandana or Bandannoes

The Cherry Girl, 1790; she wears a spotted handkerchief

Poor Tom Bowling, 1791; Tom wears a dark red handkerchief with white spots, while a woman in mourning holds a white handkerchief with red dots and a red border

An old woman with The roguish boy, 1791

Favourite Chickens Going to Market, 1792; a woman wears a handkerchief with a pattern of white circles

The Prodigal Son taking leave, 1792; his mother wears a yellow handkerchief with striped borders and a pattern in black and white dots

Outside the Ale-House Door by George Morland, 1792; both men appear to be wearing red patterned (spotted?) handkerchiefs, one as a hatband and one at his neck. See also Outside the Alehouse Door

The Lucky Escape, or, Jolly Carpenter, 1793; a ploughman and a woman wear spotted handkerchiefs

St. James’s day, 1793; floral (?) and striped (?) patterns on women

A Cottage Exterior: A Seated Labourer Filling His Pipe by William Redmore Bigg, 1793

Scene from 'The Register Office' by Joseph Reed by Benjamin Vandergucht; the actor on the right wears a spotted handkerchief

British Plenty, 1794; the sailor wears a spotted handkerchief

A Sailor Boy relating the Story of his Shipwreck to a Cottage Family, 1794; an old woman in a dotted or floral handkerchief, and a younger woman in a striped handkerchief

New Mackrel, New Mackerel, 1795; a woman selling mackerel wears a spotted handkerchief

Sandwich-carrots! dainty sandwich-carrots!, 1796; striped kerchief

Mr. Suett as Dicky Gossip in 'My Grandmother' by Samuel de Wilde, 1797; a man wears a red handkerchief with white stripes and spots

A servant in the doorway wearing a spotted handkerchief The Family Made Happy - The Child Found, 1797

A young woman wearing a spotted handkerchief in The Shipwrecked Tar, 1797

Morning After the Storm, The Husband’s Return, 1798; the wife wears a spotted handkerchief

At the Inn Door by Henry Singleton; the woman wears a striped handkerchief

Johnny Going to the Fair by George Morland; the woman leaning out of the door seems to have a patterned kerchief tied over her cap and around her head

Portrait of a woman and a boy, last quarter of the 18th century; she wears a dark red handkerchief with a pattern of white circles

Figure study by John Opie; a young woman in a red handkerchief with a pattern of white circles

Portrait of Isaline Fé by Firmin Massot, c. 1785-1790

Visit to the child at nurse by George Morland, 1788; the nurse wears a reddish handkerchief with white spots

Checked handkerchiefs (blue/white and red/white) on women in A scene at Billingsgate by John Locker, 1793

Henry Angelo by Mather Brown; he wears a dark red handkerchief with a white check pattern, wrapped and tied in the open neckline of his fencing jacket

Morning by Francis Wheatley, 1799; a woman wears a white kerchief with a blue check pattern

Evening by Francis Wheatley, 1799; the man wears a red kerchief with a white check patern, picking up the color of his red jacket

Venus attired by the Graces, 1800; two of the maids wear spotted handkerchiefs. One handkerchief appears to be brown with white spots, while the other handkerchief is white with red spots.

Easy Money by George Morland; the woman at far right wears a kerchief around her head, tied under her chin.

The Benevolent Cottager wears a yellow handkerchief with a green grid pattern

The four eldest children of Sir Richard Croft by John James Halls, c. 1803, playing with a blue handkerchief with white diamond-shaped spots

Samuel Thomas Russell in Samuel Foote's “The Mayor of Garratt” by Samuel De Wilde, c. 1810-1811, with a bindle made from a red handkerchief with white spots