Officer, Review Order c1884

This unsigned painting was photographed at the King's Royal Hussars officer's mess at Tidworth in 2001. The artist had a poor grasp of perspective and the figure of the mounted officer looks too small for the horse but the uniform is well depicted, and the dog looks suitably impressed.The colour of the busby plume and the horsehair plume on the bridle is dark red, conforming with the distinctive crimson of the 20th. This red is also on the edge of the leopard skin saddle cover, and the sabretache. The embroidery on the face of the sabretache is well done but over all it is the wrong shape, and the crimson line down the middle of the herringbone lace is too wide. The dating of the picture is helped by the single battle honour at the base of the sabretache design, They were permitted to display PENINSULA in 1874 and added SUAKIN 1885 after they returned to Britain in 1888/9. The scene is either in Ireland before the regiment went to Egypt in Feb 1885, or it shows the men left behind in the depot. The officer, who is a lieutenant, has gold shoulder cords which were added to the tunic in 1881 with the silver star badge of his rank sewn on.

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