Drapery painter draperyman

Employed by other artists, usually portraitists, to finish their work, they were specialists in paintings clothing and other accessories. Defined as subcontractors rather than studio assistants they seem to have emerged in the Netherlands in the late 17th century, and by the mid 18th century, most of the leading British portraitists employed them excepting Gainsborough and Hogarth. Joseph Van Aken was known as "doyen of the draperyman's profession. Source: Oxford Dictionary of Art online, http://www.enotes.com/oxford-art-encyclopedia/drapery-painter