Also 7 fountange. [Fr. fontange, f. Fontanges the territorial title of a mistress of Louis XIV.] A tall head-dress worn in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
1689. Shadwell, Bury F., II. Milliner. What d’ye lack, Ladies? fine Mazarine Hoods, Fontanges, Girdles, Sable-Tippets, choice of fine Gloves and Ribbands.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 98, 22 June, ¶ 1. Monsieur Paradin says, ‘That these old fashioned Fontanges rose an Ell above the Head; that they were pointed like Steeples, and had long loose Pieces of Crape fastened to the Tops of them, which were curiously fringed and hung down their Backs like Streamers.’
1883. F. G. Stephens, Catal. Prints Brit. Mus., IV. 282. Likewise behind, is an ugly old one-eyed woman in a fontange, her lean bust much exposed, holding a mirror and a fan.
