Officer, Levee Dress 1833


This print, no. 10 in the Upright Series published by Spooner, shows an officer of the newly named Scots Fusilier Guards in full dress, worn for levees, drawing rooms and in the evening. In full dress the stripe on the trousers was gold, for other parades and occasions it was red. The gold and crimson sash round his waist was worn on state occasions and when the sovereign was present, plain crimson for other parades and exercises. The gold tassels hanging by his sword are the ends of the sash.

The bearskin is remarkable for the fact that it has a white plume on the left side. This, however, was very short-lived and was removed c1835. Another state of this print was published showing no plume. The chin-strap is thin black leather as worn by the Grenadier Guards but not the Coldstream who had a gilt chin-chain. The 1834 Dress Regulations required caps to be fastened by gilt scales of the prescribed pattern. The same order also mentions that the cap should be 14 inches deep for the Scots and Coldstream, but 12 inches for the Grenadiers. The badge on the front is the crown over thistles and can be seen at Officers Bearskin Badge 1831.

The coat, introduced in 1830, was plain scarlet and replaced the two coats worn before. It was double-breasted with the two rows of gilt buttons almost parallel about 2.5 inches apart. The 1834 Dress Regulations stipulate a blue collar but here we can just see that the collar is red at the back. This is also the case in the Spooner print of the Grenadier Guards so is not a colouring error. The tails of the coat have false vertical pockets with three buttons and gold lace loops each side. The ornaments at the base of the tail are gold with a silver thistle badge and have the effect of tying back the white turnbacks.

The epaulettes are gold, embroidered on blue cloth. The size of the bullion determined the rank of the officer. Grenadier and Light company officers wore epaulettes but had grenade or bugle badges above the rank badges. See Captain's Epaulettes, Grenadier Company c1835.

The sword has a black scabbard with gilt mounts which was worn by all officers in full dress. In dress, the field officers had an all brass scabbard slung from a waist-belt of Russia leather decorated with three gold stripes. Officers below field rank wore their swords on a white leather shoulder belt but here, since the officer is in full dress, his sword is in a white frog attached to a white silk waist-belt worn below the coat.


Uniforms | Regimental Details


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by Stephen Luscombe