Figure 1.--This image shows James Martin probably around 1895, perhaps a few years later in a simple white dress and hair bow. HBC believes it was taken the day James was breeched. This is a black and white portrait that was printed on sepia paper and then color painted--note the pink flowers some of which are laid inside the "basket" created by the out-streached hem. Mother clearly wanted the photograph to record his petticoats. Photo supplied courtesy of the RG collection. |
James in the portrait before breeching wears a very light, collarless shift which he wears with a large locket. Rather unusually for these breeching sets, his mother has him delicately lift up the hem of his dress so that his lace trimmed petticoat can be seen. James weas petticoats rather than pantalets. Interestingly, he wears the exact same long black stockings and twin bar strap shoes in both outfits. We have attempted to assess both the clothing worn as well as to understand just what was involved in a boy's breeching during the 19th century. Here we can only speculate based on our understanding of the portrait. Please let HBC know if you have any insights to offer on the process.
We have little infornation about James other than he is 5 years old. We believe he was an American boy, although adding the flowers was rather unusual for am American portrait. This presumably reflects his mother's artistic bent. The portraits may have been taken on his birthday, but we are not sure about that. The portraits probably tell us more about James' mother than Janes himself. We are not surewhat Janes thought about his breeching or different outfits. Some boys at age 5 began asking for more boyish clothes. We do not know if this was true in James' case. We do note that he had quite different expressions in the two images. Information on James, his mother, and the chronology of this image can be found on the main James Martin page.
We assume that the portraits commemorate the day he was breeched as they were taken before and after--presumably under the watchful direction of his teary-eyed mother. This may have been James's birthday, but in fact we do not know just what day Mrs. Martin has selected for James' breeching. Perhaos it was done justvbefore his 6th birthday, but James in the portrait looks ,ore like he is 5 than just turning 6 years old. And of course the breeching maybhave had nothing to do with his birthday.
The boy has long blond hair which is done in an unsual style for an American boy the 1890s. He has ringlets, but they fall well short of his shoulders. His hair is swept up to the crown of his hair in a style rather more common to a girl. It is crowned by an enormous white hair bow, a much larger one than normally worn by boys. It was usually girls that had the large hair bows. In fact this is one of the largest hair bows that HBC has ever seen on a boy. The placement is also very girlish. Generally speaking boys' hairbows were placed to the side of the head. Girls' hair bows were variously placed, but one of those locations was on top of the crown of the head.
The question arises, however, as to wether James really wore this hair bow to the studio or in fact on other outings. It certainly wouldn't have lasted long with a strong wind and appears more likely to have been worn indoors. In which case, James may well have had a hat although there is no indication from the portrait as to whether that in fact was the case. We assume that the practice for girls was to wear hairbows put on at home wherever they went. Turn of the century images show girls going to school with large hair bows. (Pitty the poor boy sitting behinf trying to get a glimpse of the blackboard [chalkboard].) HBC notes that boys appear to have worn their hair bows on special occassions, although this varied with the mother and age of the boy. HBC notes the account of a French boy, Paul Vailland-Couturier, going to school in curls, but only wearing his hair bow at home or for special occasions. Also we rather suspect that girls were more careful about such matters than boys. I supose that James probably did wear his hair bow to the studio, but we wonder where else he would have worn that bow. Would he have worn in for outings to the park or to visit friends and family. Surely he would have had a smaller bow to wrear around the house. What kind of hair bow if any would he have worn to church.
Several items of clothing that Janes is wearing here are worthy of comment. James' outfit raises a number if intraging questions about the dresses boys wore in the 19th century.
Hats were a very important part of people's outfits in the 19th and early 20th century, infact until after the 1950s. Boys with their usually small hairbows could usuaslly wear hats. James with this enormous hair bow could not have.
James wears a very simple, light shift or frock. White was very pooular for boys' dresses. The white color, however, makes it very difficult to destinguish details. There is no collar, but the cut-away neck opening is edged in a wide band of lace. The puffsleeves also have lace edging. In fact they appear to have two bands of edging. The hem of the shift is plain and would have fallen below the knees. I'm not sure what the material was, perhaps linnen. It looks to be a very light weight shift suitable for summer wear. We do not know to what extent James wore this shift. It clearly is a dressy outfit reserved for formal events. We wonder what the conventions were. Would James have worn this shift for outings to the park or visits to families or friends. We are not sure what he would have worn to church or for play around the house.
James wears a fairly large locket. Lockets were very popular in the late 19th century, more for girls and women than boys. It was very common to put a portrait of a loved one inside. The image is not detailed enough to tell much about it. HBC rather suspects, however, that it was a gold locket with mother's potrait inside.
Boys in the 19th cenury before breeching wore both pantalets and petticoats with both dresses amd kiltsuits. We are not sure which was more common or how this varied over time. Often only a littlelace trim is visible at the dress or kilt skirt hem. We believe this was mostly accidental, although in some cases it may have been arranged by mother. This image is unsual in that mother clearly wanted James' petticoats to be part of the breeching portrait. Presumably this was the last day James was t swear these petticoats and she wanted a keepsake record. The pettocaots unlike the dress have a scalloped hem and eyelet workmis cut in just above the hem in a band. We are not sure what the bodice of the garment is like, but there is nothing visible around the neck.
James weaes long black stockings. They are somewhat out of step with the light all-white shift, but HBC has seen other images of children, both boys and girls, wearing white all white outfits with black stockings. Black stockings were very common in the 1890s and widly worn in the 1900s, although after the turn of the century, white stockings were also commonly worn by young boys and girls for dressy occasions.
James appears to be wearing patent leather strap shoes with what looks to be double straps.
Unlike many contemporary portraits, James does not have any boyhood props such as a ball or favorite toy. The only props are flowers and the flower arrangements are quite different in the before and after phase. Notice the pink coloring that has been adding to the flowers. One of the issues that HBC has addressed is the development of color conventions. Here Mrs. Martin or at least the photographic studio colorist has used pink in the image before James' breeching. Also note how some of the flowers are laid inside the "basket" created by the out-streached hem.
Clearly some preparation was made for this dainty, decidely un-boyish pose. James would have had to have held it for some time, both while the flowers were being arranged and the actual portrait taken. Surely at least two shots were made probably more. Mrs. Martin must have given the pose considerable thought. This certainly means that James' mother was there with him. The question arises as to the presence of his father. Breeching was a major event in a boys' life. You would rather think that father would be present. In fact in many instances it was father who insisted on the breeching at an earlier age than mothers would have liked. This may well have been the case with James. However, HBC speculates that given the hair bow, choice of frock, pose, and addition of flowers, that father may well not have been present for the portrait.
One HBC reader comments, "He does not look a bit unhappy to be wearing dresses at age 5. He may he is used to being dressed like this by mother." HBC finds it rather difficult to assess his expression. We find speculate that he may be watching his mother to make sure his pose is just right. It does not appear to HBC that he has all that excited about the idea of breeching which must have been explained to him. Then again that can be said about many of these before and after breeching sets. We are sure Mrs. Martin kept this portrait as a treasured family heirloom to be brought out to be admired when family friends and relatives visited. One suspects that as a somewhat older boy that James would not have been to happy about this.
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