Unknown English Portrait: The Boys



Figure 1.--This is a detail from a unidentified portrait of four brothers anbd sisters, probably in the 1810s-20s. The children all wear regency dresses. Although this detail from the portrait does not show it, this boy is wearing a plaid dress. Click on the image to see the other child we believe to be a boy.

Two of the children wear colored dresses. I am not sure about the significance of the pattern.cilors. One boy has a plaid dress which of course suggests a Scottish kilt--a boy's garment. The other boy wears a blue dress. Here I am not sure. We believe that modern color conventions were not yet established. These dresses do not have balloon sleeves. The choice of the dresses is interesting. It is almost certain that the mother selected them. The artist certainly would not have selected a plaid dress. Plaid is complicted to paint. We believe that white and colored dresses were selected to diferentiate the boys and girls. This does not mean that the girls always wore white dresses and the boys colored dresses. In fact we suspect that the boys as the two yhoungest children wire their susters old clothes. As a portrait was a special occassion, however, they might have had new dresses purchased. Also these two children do not have necklasses. Their hair is slightly shorter than the other two children and no effort has been made to curl it. The features of these two children also appear boyish. We believe that they are both boys.








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Created: 4:40 AM 9/21/2004
Last updated: 4:40 AM 9/21/2004