Old Sir George Booth

I suspect Old George was father of the George Booth I blogged about previously here, as this portrait (by an unknown artist) also hangs in Dunham Massey, now in the hands of the National Trust. Old George wears some kind of unidentifiable wrap over a linen shirt with an attached collar and decorative tassels on his bandstrings. He also has a black cap with lace edge, which could be part of a liner that could be removed for cleaning. There is an example of one of these in the collection of the Museum of London.

Colonel Sir John Booth

Painted by Edward Bower. I can’t find anything about the good Colonel, apart from the fact that he came from Dunham Massey where this splendid picture hangs. Presumably he was a Parliamentarian as Bower generally painted like minded subjects. Let me know please if you know any more. He is arrayed in military splendour, but looks more like he’s just taken a break from a hunt in the woods. If you compare him with the picture of Denzil Holles you’ll see what I mean. Lovely candy stripes of braid or embroidery on his doublet and breeches, a fine pair of soft boots with spurs, buff coat with back and breast armour, fur lined glove on one hand and an armoured gauntlet on the left to protect the hand that holds the reins.The ensemble is finished with a black taffeta scarf (sash) tied at the rear, red ribbon bows on his breeches and a pair of outrageous tassels on the cord holding his tiny powder flask at the hip. Hopefully his firelock isn’t loaded. He may get a nasty shock if it goes off half-cock!

Update, from the NT website: The sitter was the fifth son of Sir George Booth (1566-1652) and Catherine Anderson, the daughter of Sir Edmund Anderson, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He married twice: firstly to Dorothy St John, daughter of Sir Anthony St John, the younger son of Oliver, Earl of Bolingbroke; and secondly, in 1659, to Anne, widow of Thomas Legh of Adlington. In 1651 he was accused of conspiring with the Scots to restore Charles II and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He is buried in Chester Cathedral.

Portrait of a Royalist Cavalry Officer

From the Bridgeman Art Library (hence the watermark). I can see no reason why this has been labelled as Royalist or cavalry, but there you are. It is undated, though to my eye, the clothes and the style of the portrait set it firmly in the Civil War period. The picture is in private hands somewhere and is  © Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts, New York.

The officer is staring out of the picture quite nonchalantly and is standing defiantly foursquare in his buff coat and breeches. He looks like he’d rather be off out than stay indoors having his portrait painted.

The perfectly white sleeves of his doublet contrast with the black of his breeches and are brocaded (or perhaps embroidered) in an intricate pattern whilst his buff leather coat is also extravagantly laced at the front. His falling band is edged in a wide band of lace, though his cuffs don’t actually match, being ruffled but not edged with lace. Note also the line of buttons down the side of his breeches and around the bottom edge too. His boots are lined with red leather and the boothose edged with lace, though again not the same pattern as his band, which is either sloppy dressing or indicates that as a soldier he didn’t care too much! He is wearing spurs to indicate that he is off to ride a horse, though not necessarily in a cavalry regiment. His baldric and sword seem to be quite plain and businesslike which suggests that they have seen action.

 

Charles II as a boy

This painting is attributed to Dobson and shows the young prince, younger than he was when painted by William Dobson for the portrait that is better known. He is dressed as a soldier with buff coat over a slashed silk doublet, but the whole effect is riches, brocaded silk breeches, wide laced collar and soft boots with boothose to match his breeches. He’s holding a broad brimmed hat with a white ostrich plume and ribbon favour. There is an odd detail on the right hand, a silk scarf end has been painted but the scarf doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Perhaps it is just knotted around his arm or maybe it’s a mistake. This picture hangs in Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum

Unknown Member of the Fownes Family

Painted by Edward Bower in 1638. The Fownes family owned and lived in Dunster Castle in Somerset and were broadly Parliamentarian in sympathy. This chap is rather nattily dressed in black doublet and breeches. The sleeves of the doublet have been slashed in several places and the front is unbuttoned from halfway down so that the lacy decoration on the shirt can be pulled through. He’s accessorised with a large lacy falling band, matching cuffs and boothose, and embroidered sword baldrick and high-heeled soft boots. Nice point decoration at the bottom of his breeches legs too. The portrait still hangs in the castle.

Sir Thomas Wharton

Painted by Van Dyck in 1639, Sir Thomas was a royalist and member of the Oxford parliament in exile during the war. Interestingly his brother Philip, Baron Wharton was prominent for Parliament, commanding a regiment in the Earl of Essex’s army for a while. Even allowing for Van Dyck’s customary embellishment of his subjects, Sir Thomas is sumptuously dressed as the military man, with an embroidered silk doublet and breeches, short buffcoat, tied with metallic cord and a red garter ribbon. Notice the shirt has been pulled out for effect where his buffcoat has been left untied. His falling band is plain, but his boots and boothose are quite magnificent. The ostrich plume on his hat isn’t a cheap accessory either. The original hangs in the Hermitage museum, St Petersburg.

Detail of the boots.

I’d love to know what the insignia is hanging from his left hip on a red scarf. I originally thought it was the Order of the Garter, but the riband ought to be a shade of blue and the medal definitely isn’t a lesser George.

The Sucklington Faction (1641)

A satire on the dandified troop of horse raised for the King by Sir John Suckling the poet. The two men sit smoking in a cellar at a table made out of a barrel. Large felt hats and slashed braided doublets, ribbons on their breeches and soft boots with boothose. They’re both wearing embroidered baldricks and have ditched their cloaks to pad out their stools.

The Kingdom’s Monster Uncloaked

Anti catholic single sheet pahphlet printed in London in 1643. A many headed monster is revealed by disembodied hands from the clouds hiding beneath a large cloak,  showing some interesting details in the costume.

On the left hand side the monster (ignoring the fact that he has extra arms) is dressed in an collar ruff, doublet buttoned down the front with one empty hanging sleeve, thin waist belt, waist high breeches that are tied off below the knee, cloth hose and heeled latchet shoes. On the right a lace edged falling band, square cut coat (or doublet) that is tied with laces (this is unusual in an illustration), shorter breeches, as they probably (tenuous I know) don’t need to reach high enough to hook onto the coat and boots with boothose.

Military and Spiritual Motions

……for foote companies, by Captaine Lazarus Howard of Ailsford in Kent. This is the picture on the front page of Captaine Howard’s pamphlet, printed in London,  1645. The musketeer has a plain square cut coat and close fitting breeches with a pot helmet, falling band (darted). He may have been a dragoon as he wears long boots with spurs and boothose. All the accoutrements of a musketeer are present, and a nice example of a matchlock musket.

The Scots

Holding Their Yovng Kinge’s Nose to Ye Grinstone (sic). Pamphlet/broadsheet from 1651. It’s a familiar image, but there are some interesting details if you zoom in.

Jockie’s hat and coat cuffs for instance. Bonnet or wide brim?

His shoes and hose. Looks like they are sewn rather than knitted from the back seam and side gussets. He has unconfined breeches too.

The buttons on the back of his coat. Round and shanked.

And last but not least, Charles’s soft boots, boothose and breeches. Spot the ribbon decoration on the lower edge.