A Study of a Painting:
James III and his Son Henry Benedict – Monaldi, Pubalacci and ‘Silvestri’ – July 1747
PART B
To be continued….
Image no. 10
Details:
– Lady in PINK: Well first off she’s wearing what appears to be an Anglais fit for a wide hoop. It has pretty wide wing cuffs – unless that’s me getting it confused with the skirt. Her dress, in the least, has a blue facing to the CF opening. This could infact be lining but we just simply don’t know. Her petticoat seems to be richly embroidered with white and gold. The white is possibly lace and it is a white coloured petticoat. The whole dress is short enough to show her ankles. She wears lace ruffles at her cuffs and something blue – possibly the lining of the the wing cuffs but it appears to be darker than the facing on the skirt so maybe a ribbon or something. She wears a very full blue neck-lace or twisted furbelow as a full decoration around her neck – it’s almost like a chenille knitted scarf. these are quite often worn tucked through the lacing/bands or buckles of her stomacher, but hers is worn loose. She wears a lace mob/pinner, pearl earrings and carries a closed fan in her right hand.
– Lady in WHITE: It’s not clear as to what type of dress she wears but it is well gathered at the front waist. The height of her hips almost looks polonaised but it could just be she has her skirt bent which is increasing the fullness. Her petticoat is straight and looks blue. Again, her dress is short enough to show her ankles. It is a closed gown and her bodice is either a CF closing with echelle ribbons as decoration or she wears a stomacher with no robings. Interestingly she appears to have a round neck. Her CF is also decorated by possibly lace and pearls that come down from a knot at her neck. It looks like she has ruffle cuffs and lace ruffles on her sleeve. She wears white shoes and white stockings.
– Man in BLACK: Possibly a type of clergy man as there are other men dressed in black about him with skull caps on traditionally linked with the clergy – particularly catholics. The hat in his hand is quite small and could possibly be his skull cap. His 3 peice outfit contains: Boot cuffs with covered buttons, a clergy-style collar that is either on the jacket/waistcoat or even loose and draped in place. His waistcoat is unbuttoned down to his lower chest and reveals a glimpse of the white shirt beneath. His has fairly deep ruffles from his shirt edged with lace. He wears a powdered wig.
– Man in RED: We’ve mentioned this guy before but we have a good shot of his front this time and we don’t know if it’s the painter’s mistake but he appears to have his breeches above his knees with his stockings tucked in, we think it’s more likely though that the painter has just painted the stockings rather flatly (no criticism!) and they are infact folded over the breeches like James Stuart.
– Lady in GREY: She wears a sackback (robe a la Francais) with a little shorter hips than some of the other ladies. She wears a wig dressed with possibly lace and pearls.
Image no. 11
Even with these very background figures with their blurred faces, the clothing is still sublime.
Details:
– Central Man in BROWN: Stubble, pipe smoking and standing nonchanantly, here is you classical working man! He wears a possibly ragged shirt as it is pulled apart to show his chest. He wears a loose, possibly too big for him jacket and appears to have something blue tied round his waist. And doesn’t that look like a farmer’s cap! Flat caps, according to good old Wikipedia have been around since the 1400’s so there’s no reason why it’s not one – especially if he’s a scottish supporter. He wears loose breeches and brown stockings.
– Women in Blue on the right. This is an interesting one and we wish we had a better photo. The size, shape and rigidity of her torse makes it looks like she is wearing a pair of plain brown Stays. This in itself is not so seemingly unusual but it is the long blue sleeves that then adorn her arms that makes us a little befuddled. They could be part of a sleeved Boned Bodice (stays with sleeves), it could be a blue shift which we’ve never heard of before, or the brown bit of her body could not be stays at all but but a waistcoat of some kind with the dress/jkt of long sleeves over the top. There does appear to be tabs though so hmmmm….. She also wears a handkerchief tied round her neck, a plain grey-sh petticoat that looks to sit over some hip pads given the silhouette that’s created. Her hair looks tied up – possibly in a bun and is uncovered and she wears plain brown shoes.
– The boy pulling at her side looks to be in a grubby shirt, breeches and light-ish coloured stockings.
– The lady in Peach is also kind of interesting – it appears to be a Closed gown. This isn’t totally unrealistic but is less seen in the wide skirt form. She wears a blue underskirt – possibly a coloured Hoop petticoat. Her bodice is unclear but appears to have no Robings and is a CF meeting. She wears a blue twist of fabric/lace around her neck. She also has large and possibly tiered lace ruffles at her sleeves and what looks like a Wing Cuff. She also wears a cap, looking very like our stereotypical image of the Mob Cap. She has white stockings and white shoes and holds a fan (probably).
– Man in Black – possibly of the clergy. Just look at that amazing jacket – such full skirts that it makes his bottom appear massive. It’s so strange to create a Pear shape look with gentleman but there you go – another example of this classic early to mid 18th century, wired out, padded and pleated, skirted jackets shape. He is all in Black! Black jkt, black waistcoat, black breeches, black stockings, black shoes. He does have his white shirt puffing out all lovely from under his sleeves though. Don’t know much about Clergy fashions but he could be some kind of Minister or just a man in deep mourning. He has grey hair – most likely powdered and is wearing glasses. He has doffed his hat – which looks to be a Tricorne and has short Boot Cuffs on his sleeves. The rest is all a bit too vague to see the particulars.
Image no.12
Lady in Yellow:
– Yellow, along with pale blue has surely got to be one of the most fashionable colours during the 18th century – it’s fame was ongoing. She wears it here in the form of an Francais or Sack and looks to have her skirts hitched up through her pocket slit.
– She has Wing Cuffs and long, very full and flouncey lace ruffles.
– She also wears a blue chenille neck-lace that comes down her her CF.
– Her petticoat appears to be plain white and presumably worn over a hoop as though her skirts don’t look very wide there is a certain definite shape to them. Her light-coloured shoes stick delicately out from underneath.
– Her hair appears to be powdered but worn fairly long and looks to be in curls or ringlets.
– She carries a fan.
Man in Red:
– He wears a beautifully cut coat – plain but with a stunning shape to it. It has wing cuffs lined with white fairly well fitting sleeves but appear to have that broad area around the elbow in their shaping. His pocket appear to be quite high up and near the front of his coat – although we are actually labelling this under the painting rather than the likelihood of his coat having those details – the pockets do tend to be, if not lower, then certainly much more nearer the side seam. It has large flowing vents probably accentuated by canvas and wadding.
– He wears a long silver waistcoat in the fashionable cut – buttoned also to the lower waist where it has developed a slight cut-away by this period of time.
– He wears dark breeches and clean white stockinsg which appear to be worn under his breeches.
