Description:
Militia infantry officer's coat made of dark blue and red woolen broadcloth, constructed in a cut- away tailcoat style and featuring a high stand-up collar. The militia coat was owned by 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. The buttons, which may have been imported from England, are marked "PLATED" on the back, and may have been gilded pewter when new. The coat is a rare survival, and part of Taylor's uniform, which was worn with one epaulet (91.247), blue cockade (91.246.1), and bicorne or cocked hat (91.248).
Label Text:
Tertius Taylor, Jr. (1783-1851) wore this coat while serving in the Charlemont, Massachusetts, militia during the second decade of the 19th century. It is both decorative and practical. Resembling a functional, double-breasted coat, it actually closes with hooks and eyes down the center front to create a smooth, unbroken line that recognizes the reality of limited combat. The sleeves, terminating halfway over the hands, are impractical for war, and instead echo those seen on fashionable civilian men’s dress. Broadcloth wool readily accepted the deep red and dark blue dyes, and kept Taylor warm and dry.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+91.249 |
