Traditional day dress c. 1870

[Tobus]

I yield to you, JSFMcA,in your knowledge of the Marquess's clan. I agree, the Duke of Argyll would be wearing a Campbell tartan, but I can't make the picture match. My monitor ( and this is the second one I have looked at) gives a distinctly red or pink cast to one of the stripes in the kilt- and to the toorie on his bonnet.

Campbell of Cawdor has a red stripe, but it also has a white one crossing on the green, which seems to be absent. Perhaps Vanity Fair's tartan scholar was on vacation.

I am probably missing something, but I return to my earlier question. Are these colors (shades) merely the result of limitations of the printer's ink, or is his kilt actually that pale, be it Campbell, Colquhoun, or otherwise? I do love the oil portrait with all of its detail, but it seems to be the more usual Campbell tartan, aka the Black Watch.

Thanks very much for adding that picture (and more salmon button envy.)

Colquhoun is completely different. The red line is in the middle of a green stripe, but the green is bordered by white lines (except for the Sobieski frauds who put the white line on the wrong side of the black). And the blue field has two black lines crossing it. There is no black stripe crossing through green in Colquhoun.

The Colquhoun tartan is one of the earlier documented ones, pre-dating the 'tartan frenzy' that followed George IV's 1822 visit to Scotland. So it has been pretty well locked in for a long time, and I'm unaware of any variation that would make it appear similar to the one in the caricature.

I imagine that, as others have said, this is an artist's caricature of tartan, with no attempt (or a poor one) at representing an actual tartan design.

As for the colours used, it might just be the artist's attempt to represent a faded tartan using his watercolour technique? A deep red would have been out of place.

[tulloch]

Ha! Wonderful!

I couldn't help but notice the brown ghillie brogues. Which also happens to be a commonly-seen style of shoe in the MacLeay portraits from the same era. Virtually no one wears these today. At least, not in that particular style.

What is unusual about them? That they are brown?

[Tobus]

What is unusual about them? That they are brown?

Yes, pretty much. If I see ghillie brogues today, they're usually black and polished. The ones in this cartoon, as well as the MacLeay portraits, seem to be brown, unpolished, and generally well-used. Plus, the style seems to be different than you see today. Thinner soles, more squared toes, and generally flatter (not rounded on top).

[MacLowlife]

Vanity Fair actually had at least four different kilted Scotsmen in their famous prints, along with several others in trousers or robes. Interestingly, the Marquess of Lorne is sometimes presented facing left and sometimes facing right. He married one of Queen Victoria's daughters, which may explain the caption

"If everywhere as successful as in love, a great destiny awaits him."

In fact, he was Governor general of Canada for about five years.

The three other prints I have found range nearly forty years (The Marquess's image was printed in 1870) and the colors would seem to reflect the continuing evolution of ink and printing. Two of them were issued in the early 1900s and they present stronger colors, though details of the tartans remain impressionistic. One from the 1890s is rendered almost entirely in shades of tan and brown, with only black and white- no blues or greens or reds.

I believe the colors in the original post represent a decision by the artist, based in part on the available technology and in part on his own artistic interpretation. Just as we are probably not meant to expect his ears to be as big as his brown shoes, we are probably not meant to expect to see the tartan exactly as shown. I asked the question, though, because of its resemblance to ancient or muted colors seen today.

But there is another explanation that might well apply- that the image has simply faded over the past 140 years. After seeing three or four different copies of the print, I am fairly sure that is not the case.

Take a look at the others for some more hints at Highland Dress of old.

http://www.vanityfairprints.com/?cat=2862

[sydnie7]

Thank you for the link to the other prints! They are wonderful.

[CMcG]

http://www.vanityfairprints.com/?cat=2862

Let's see those in-thread, shall we?

'A Vanity Fair Print of Mr. Peter Jeffrey Mackie April 8th 1908 The Caption Reads ” Restless Peter ”'


'A Vanity Fair Print of Marquess of Tulibardine Dated March 23rd 1905 The Caption Reads ” Scottish Horse ”'


'A Vanity Fair Print of The Marquis Of Breadalbane Sept 13th 1894 The Caption Reads “ The Queen’s Lord Steward ”'


I especially like the last one showing the The Marquis Of Breadalbane wearing spats. Is that a stock tie or some type of cravat he is wearing?

[MacLowlife]

et voila: a verra similar jacket, available on That Internet Auction Site:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/MACPHERSON-S...item336e22ee44

not my size.

[Tobus]

Yes, the spats caught my eye as well!

I also couldn't help but notice that we see "flashes" being worn even in 1894. I would have expected to see more traditional garter ties or ribbons. I'll have to remember that if it ever comes up. Flashes date back to at least 1894.

Oh, and I really dig the pocketwatch chain that the Marquis of Breadalbane is wearing.

[sydnie7]

Yes, the spats caught my eye as well!

I also couldn't help but notice that we see "flashes" being worn even in 1894. I would have expected to see more traditional garter ties or ribbons. I'll have to remember that if it ever comes up. Flashes date back to at least 1894.

Oh, and I really dig the pocketwatch chain that the Marquis of Breadalbane is wearing.

Oh, that's what it is! I kept trying to make it into extra large buttons. . .

And I also at the way his sporran has slid down beneath his "bay window"

[Tobus]

Whee! Aye, he seems to be folding his sporran in half!

On another note, the Marquess of Tullibardine might just win the longest, hairiest sporran award that was discussed in another thread. That thing hangs down below his hose cuffs...