Figure 1.--Thse boys are the Allen brothers of Errol. This painting was executed about 1790. Note the open ruffled collars. Also their skeleton suits are worn with knee breeches rather than long pants. The Allen Brothers portrait dates from early in Raeburn's career. He is experimnting with poses, much more livbely that other artists at the time. The ligting is brilliant. Art experts are impressed with his brushwork which is one of his best known attributes. Click on the imge for informtion about the boys.

Sir Henry Raeburn was basically a portrait painter. And as a Scottish artist, most of his clients were the elite in Scotland. The Allen brothers came from a wealthy landed family. John Lee Allen (1781- ) and James Allen (1783) were about 7-9 years ols when painted by Raeburn. Their father was John Allen of Inchmartine. They were the heirs to the estates of Inchmartine and Errol located on the north bank of the Tay estuary, near Perth in the Highlands. They are well dressed as one might expect from their social status. Raeburn depicts a lively scene. As you might expect from all boys that age, they areplaying a game with a hat and a stick. It is difficult to see what kind of hat they are playing with. Just what the game is we do not know. The boy seems to have torn the lining of the hat. Probably the boys are just horsing around, but what is clear is that Raeburn did not just sit them down and tell them to be still. The boys wear identical light-colored vests and pants with open green jackets and large open ruffled collrs. Note the boys are not wearing kilts. This was discouraging by the British after the 1745 Highland risung. It it had been common, surly you would have seen it in Raeburn's portraits, Only in th mid-19th century do you see well-to-do Highland boys wearing kilts. The activity allows Raeburn to set off one boy against the other and beautifully capture that activity. The older boy is oblivious to the artist and by inference the viewer while the younger boy fully engages the artist viewer. We also see playful innosebce contrasted with more mature determination. One assesment suggests, "Such a subtle and ambiguous vision was characteristic of the Romantic period, which gave birth to the idea of childhood as an interesting state in itself rather than a mere prelude to adulthood."

Navigate the Historical Boys Clothing Web Site:
[About Us]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls] [Theatricals] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 7:30 AM 1/16/20181
Last updated: 7:31 AM 1/16/2018