Figure 1.--This watercolor was painted of Harold Bate in 1870. He was 2 1/2 years old at the time. Notice the top curl as well as the ringlets.
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Figure 1.--This watercolor was painted of Harold Bate in 1870. He was 2 1/2 years old at the time. Notice the top curl as well as the ringlets. |
A watercolor painting from 1870 shows Harlod Bate wearing intricately done ringlet curls. Unfortunately we have no provinance on the painting, except that on the back it indicates that he was 2 1/2 years old at the time and wears a blue dress or smock with a small neck frill. The fact that he had a reasonably high-quality watercolor portrait done of him suggests that he came from an affluent family. We note that he has a large top curl in addition to his ringlets. This is a style we have also noted in America, at the time. It seems to have been a destinctively boyish hair fashion. At least we have not yet noted it on girls.
This watercolor was done in 1870, showing an English boy wear long ringlet curls well before Mrs. Burnett's publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1885. This and other available information suggests that the style was well established in England for boys.
The boy shown here from 1870 shown here is Harlod Bate. We know very little about him. The portrait in 2002 was located in England, in fact northwest England. While physical location is no proof of privinance, often such images remain in the same general location where they were paonted. We thus assume that he is English. His name also sounds English. The only other availaible information is that he was 2 1/2 years old at the time
that the portrait was painted. The fact that he had a reasonably high-quality watercolor portrait done of him suggests that he came from an affluent family. His rather luxurious looking dress or smock gives a similar imoression. We have no further information on Harold or what became of him. We always hope in doing these pages on individuals that we might here from some of the family to tell us a bit about the person's life.
The portarit does not show us a complete view of his outfit. He appears to be wearing a light blue dress or smock with embroidered detailing and a small neck frill. This is a good example of how small collars could be in the mid 19th century, in sharp contrast to the large collars that were so common in the late 19th century.
Figure 2.--This enlargement of the watercolor portarit shows the top curl that Harold wore in greater detail. Click on the image for more information about this style. |
Harold's shoulder length blond hair is intricately done ringlet curls. The ringlets are not as distretely one as we have seen in other images, but they are claerly discernable. We note that he has a large top curl in addition to his ringlets. This is a style we have also noted in America, at the time. It seemns to have been a destinctively boyish hair fashion. At least we have not yet noted it on girls.
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