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Here we see a portrait of what must be two brothers. The portrait is undated, we might guess the 1890s. Unfortunately we know absolutely nothing about the portrait, other than what we can deduce by examining the image. HBC notes anumber of interesting asoects to this image, but we welcome user input to help us better understand the portrait.
Here we see a portrait of what must be two brothers. It is possible that they may be cousins or other relatives, but in most portraits of this nature the children are brothers. Unfortunately we know absolutely nothing about the portrait. We have no family attrivution.
We are sure the image is British. I supose it could be Scottish, but we think it is more likely English. It was for sale by an English dealer and because of the much larger English population, most images like this with small boys dressed in Highland gear are English. Another factor is that if the boys are Scottish you muight think that the older boy might have a touch of Scottish clothing.
The portrait is undated. As we do not have the full image with the photographer informastion, its a little tricky assessing the date. We would guess it was taken in the 1890s, but the very early 2000s is possible.
-Here we see an English boy wearing a single-breasted three-piece knickers suit with vest. The vest matches the suit and has five buttons. Notice the Eton collar and Windsor knot necktie. The Eton collar seems to be of moderate size and is not real stiff. While he wears an Eton collar, this is not an Eton suit. A reader tells us, "The elder boy does not have a Windsor knot in his tie, hence the right side of the knot is nearer to vertical than the left. This confirms that he is right -handed, starting the process by taking the wide end of the tie over the other from a position to the right of the neck. Left-handers tie their ties in such a way that they produce a mirror-image of what you see in this picture.
His little brother wears a Scottish outfit, apparently with short pants rather than a kilt. Notice his tam complete with eagle feather. Ar reader writes, "The small boy is in fact wearing a kilt, you can just see the top of his sporran above his balmoral hat." HBC see all sorts of Scottish items, a Balmoral cap with eagle featger, a nilitary-style jacket often worn with a kilt, and a plaid. What we do not see is a kilt. As far as we can tell, the boy looks to be wearing short pants. Although we do admit that such outfits with short pants rather than kilts. Our reader replies, "I suggest that initially I would agree with you, however if you look carefully the material crosses over both legs then drops down following the line of the thigh, and then crosses over at the level of the 'seat' making
it 'one piece' and not thwo legs. Also I believe the material to be a dark tartan (such as Black Watch or Argyll Seaforth) matching the short plaid on the boy's left shoulder." Another reader agrees, "It doesn't look like pants to me either. I would agree that it is a kilt." Another reader writes, "I also think that upon closer inspection the younger boy is wearing a kilt but a much darker one than normally seen and the older boy appears to be
wearing Knickers. Is that usual?" Well an older boy wearing knickers I think in the late 19th century was quite common as was a kilt for Higland costumes. Short pants were very rare with Highland outfits.
We do not note English boys wearing ethnic clothing go any extent. One of the few exceptions is Scottish Highlands dress. Scotish-style clothing was not only worn in Scotland. Scottish clothes were made and worn in England. This began in the 19th century as the cult of Scotland grew in England. Scotland had been looked doen by most English, especially in the 18th century after the suppression of the '45 Jacobite Rising at Culloden. This changed only gradually. The Scottish regiments in the Napoleonic Wars brought great credit on Scotland. Romantic novels and poems about Scotland also affected public thinking. Even the Hanovarians which had replaced the Stuarts gradually were swept up with the public enthusiasm over Scotland. The last Hanlvarian, Princess Victoria loved to read about Scotland. Affter becoming queen, she and Prince Albert began dressing the boys in Highland outfits. This was both a political statement and a relection of her love of Scotland. Other well to do English families also dressed their boys in Highland outfits. As far as we know this affectatiin was served for the affluent class, but this meant well to do middle-class families.
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