Description:
Man's black wool felt bicorne. Leather sweat band inside for fit. Outside top is shaped by a wire covered by fabric band for shape. Possibly part of the uniform of Lt. Tertius Taylor, Jr., of the Charlemont, Massachusetts, militia. Lieutenant Tertius Taylor, Jr. (1783-1831) of Charlemont, Massachusetts, whose father and uncles had served in the Continental Line during the Revolution. The musters of the local militia on the town common became more social than martial as the years passed, providing a splendid opportunity to display civic pride. A relic of colonial times when the militia provided the only protection, local units remained important through the War of 1812. The center front and standing collar are made from scarlet broadcloth. The coat secures down the center front with seven metal hook and eye closures. Lengths of decorative, metallic lace or braid are couched horizontally on either side to imitate wide worked buttonholes (a holdover from earlier 18th-century uniforms). The lace lengths are flanked with seven silvered brass buttons on each side. The back skirt has a center slit, on either side of which are two pairs of hearts. According to Henry Cooke, a men's clothing and uniform scholar, the dimensions of the coat would roughly fit a man with a modern coat size of 36, waist of about 35". The coat features overly long coat sleeves, echoing contemporary men's fashionable men's from the 18teens, 1820s, and into the 1830s. Other components to Taylor's militia uniform in Historic Deerfield's collection include a coat (91.249), one epaulet (91.247), and a feather or plume (91.246.1).
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+91.248 |
