Sketch of Drummer's Coatee 1830

The sketch here is by Percy Sumner a noted expert on military uniform who wrote many articles on the subject in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. One such article appeared in Journal no 80 in 1941 in which he wrote about four drummers coats from different regiments. One of them was a Grenadier Guards coat. See Drummer's Coatee 1848 At the end he mentioned a sketch he made 40 years earlier which may refer to this drawing. He says, 'This coat was practically the same as that in the Royal United Service Institution, but my notes record certain differences. The white lace with the blue fluer-de-lys pattern had a yellow edge each side, and the grenade on the collar was placed on a piece of red cloth so as to show a red edging. Also my notes say only 7 double loops on the breast instead of 8 and the material of the coat is described as coarse dull red cloth.'
There are certainly indications that the lace here is edged yellow although at first I thought it was discoloured white paint. There are 7 loops on the chest and there is a grenade badge on the collar but not edged with red cloth. He has made a point of the fact that the grenade on the bottom of the tails is edged blue. There is a short fringe around the base of the collar which he does not mention. There are no wings or epaulettes on the shoulder. The chevron shapes on the sleeve are double rows of lace and point upwards whereas the chevrons on the Drummers Coat 1784 point downwards. The lace on the cuff flaps looks plain white but this would be commented on if it were the case. It is interesting to compare this sketch with a similar coat, see Photo of Drummer's Coatee c1830

Band | Regimental details