Late 17th century portrait showing Highland Dress

[figheadair]

Peter,

Very interesting painting that I haven't seen before. The character on the right seems to be a cleric. The middle figure appears to be a gentleman with a tartan coat on (details not clear). The amount of ribbons on this figure's shoes is amazing! As to the Highlander figure, I'm kind of intrigues by his costuming details. His shoes appear to be flat-sole "turnshoes" (although antiquated in most of Europe, still in use in the Highlands). His truibhs are not cut on the bias, which was done back in the day (on truibhs as well as on hose). The figure has on a "slashed" jacket - again antiquated but still done in the Highlands (see the portrait of Lord Mungo Murray). His plaid is interesting for its shortness, but what the figure apparently has on under the plaid (and over his truibhs) is confusing - note the scalloped bottom edge. If you have a chance to talk to a costume historian about this painting, I should be interested in learning more about that. Are you planning to do a paper on this picture?

Gerry,

You make some interesting observations. The link to the source is on my FB page but for ease, see here. Scroll down and you will find a description of the three characters, all played by John Lacy.

The artist, Michael John Wright, was of course the same Michael Wright responsible for the famous portrait of Mungo Murray which might explain the similarity in the slashed coat in both subjects. Wright trained in Edinburgh so it's possible, indeed likely, that he would have seen people wearing both trews and/or the feileadh mor. The portriat of Mungo Murray is far more detailed in its execution and more accurate; the hose cut on the bias and fold of the plaid show he was not confused by the structure of Highland Dress. As for the costume worn by Lacy, I suspect that it was just that, costume designed to create an effect on stage, hence the enormous bows worn by the middle character. That being the case then the Highland clothes would have been 'on the theme of' rather than being an accurate representation of the dress as it would actually have been worn in Scotland. That might explain the straight cut trews. These are more like tartan trousers or perhaps even made in two parts with sort of shorts and long hose. That might also explain the strange double scolloped arrangement above the knees.

[Orvis]

Gerry,

You make some interesting observations. The link to the source is on my FB page but for ease, see here. Scroll down and you will find a description of the three characters, all played by John Lacy.

The artist, Michael John Wright, was of course the same Michael Wright responsible for the famous portrait of Mungo Murray which might explain the similarity in the slashed coat in both subjects. Wright trained in Edinburgh so it's possible, indeed likely, that he would have seen people wearing both trews and/or the feileadh mor. The portriat of Mungo Murray is far more detailed in its execution and more accurate; the hose cut on the bias and fold of the plaid show he was not confused by the structure of Highland Dress. As for the costume worn by Lacy, I suspect that it was just that, costume designed to create an effect on stage, hence the enormous bows worn by the middle character. That being the case then the Highland clothes would have been 'on the theme of' rather than being an accurate representation of the dress as it would actually have been worn in Scotland. That might explain the straight cut trews. These are more like tartan trousers or perhaps even made in two parts with sort of shorts and long hose. That might also explain the strange double scolloped arrangement above the knees.

Peter,
Thanks for the additional information - I didn't know the artist Wright was responsible for both paintings (Lacy and Lord Mungo Murray). Since the painting of Lacy is apparently the earlier of the two, I suspect Wright was then still learning about the intricacies of Highland dress, whereas by the time he painted Murray he had a pretty good grasp of the structure of Highland clothing. I agree that Lacy's Highland dress was an "on the theme of" costume rather than an accurate representation of Highland dress of the time, whereas Lord Murray's portrait would have been a accurate representation due to the expectation of the sitter that it be accurate. I would be interested to know if the artist Michael Wright painted any other pictures that depict 17th c. Highland dress.

[figheadair]

Peter,
Thanks for the additional information - I didn't know the artist Wright was responsible for both paintings (Lacy and Lord Mungo Murray). Since the painting of Lacy is apparently the earlier of the two, I suspect Wright was then still learning about the intricacies of Highland dress, whereas by the time he painted Murray he had a pretty good grasp of the structure of Highland clothing. I agree that Lacy's Highland dress was an "on the theme of" costume rather than an accurate representation of Highland dress of the time, whereas Lord Murray's portrait would have been a accurate representation due to the expectation of the sitter that it be accurate. I would be interested to know if the artist Michael Wright painted any other pictures that depict 17th c. Highland dress.

Gerry, I agree that the portrait of Lacy looks to be more naive of the two. Using a well-known search engine I cannot find and other Highland type portraits by Wright other than the ones of Lacy and Mungo Murray. Interestingly, and going slightly off topic, I did come across an unnamed version of the latter, said to be in the Museum of the Isles (Clan Donald Centre, Skye) which looks to be less well executed and I assume therefore, earlier.



Comparing the two versions of Mungo Murray with Wright’s Sir Neil O’Neill reveals similarities with the assumed early portrait of Mungo Murray, the hair style for example. And the doublet, dirk and shoes of all three are essentially the same showing the reuse of certainly elements. One wonders how accurate these were of the individuals and how much they were intended to represent a cultural identity of the sitter.



There is no doubt that the more familiar portrait of Mungo Murray is by far the best in terms of execution and was probably the zenith in the development of a theme that looks to have started with the Lacy portrait. Given the proximity of the production dates Wright must have painted these almost back-to-back and it’s even possible that one on more were in his studio at the same time. Somewhat tongue in cheek, one might refer to these as a Wright Saga.

[Orvis]

Peter,

Having done a bit of research on John Michael Wright (Wiki), I learned that while he was most likely born in London, he had been apprenticed as a youth to a Scottish portraitist in Edinburgh in the early 17th c., where he most certainly would have seen visiting Highlanders wearing their dress in the streets, so I presume he was familiar with the structure of Highland dress of that day. After his apprenticeship, he departed for France and later Rome, where he was admitted to a prestigious artistic society and was able to study the works of Italian Renaissance masters. I believe this influenced the realism in his paintings. Upon returning to England, he gained a lot of prestige and royal connections from his connection with the Stuart kings. Whether he returned to Scotland I couldn't say. From the collection of Wright paintings that I've seen online, his English subjects were all posed somewhat alike (either in sitting or standing poses). I don't know if Wright (like many artists of the day) employed a group of artists to paint the sitter's body/details, while he painted the sitter's face, or if he did the entire work himself. In any case, the realism of his works indicates that his paintings represented what he saw rather than a romantic impression of it. The realism (and re-use) of some of the props in works depicting Highland dress (dirks/sgians, shoes, slashed jackets, tartan) indicates that he probably collected these items. Did his Scottish subject (Lord Murray) come to London to sit his portrait, or did Wright travel to Scotland? I was interested in the portrait of Lord Mungo Murray which depicted him helmeted (rather than in a bonnet), and was wondering if that picture could have been a copy of the more well-known portrait that we have studied. Since Wright is known to have painted one Highland portrait, would his prestige and court connections have given him other commissions from Highland gentry/nobility - in other words, are there more Wright paintings of Highlanders out there?

[Tobus]

His plaid is interesting for its shortness, but what the figure apparently has on under the plaid (and over his truibhs) is confusing - note the scalloped bottom edge. If you have a chance to talk to a costume historian about this painting, I should be interested in learning more about that. Are you planning to do a paper on this picture?

He appears to be wearing some variation of petticoat breeches, or perhaps rhinegraves, which were fashionable in Europe at the time. If you do a Google search for images, you'll see a lot of examples with fringed, ribboned, or castellated edges like this. I would not claim to know whether this sort of costume would be seen in Scotland or the Highlands specifically, but as an actor who probably did a lot of traveling about, he quite possibly would have chosen a tartan-themed version of what was commonly being worn elsewhere.