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1 of 253523 objects
Colour-Sergeant Alexander McDonald, Scots Fusilier Guards Signed and dated 1831
Oil on card | 34.9 x 25.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 406934
Alexandre-Jean Dubois Drahonet (1791-1834)
Colour-Sergeant Alexander McDonald, Scots Fusilier Guards Signed and dated 1831
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In 1832 French portraitist Alexandre-Jean Dubois Drahonet was commissioned by William IV to paint one hundred pictures illustrating the uniform of the British Army. The Royal Collection retains most of this series. A photograph of the Equerry’s Room at Windsor Castle taken in around 1900 shows some of these paintings hanging together, framed in groups.
During the period of peace following the Napoleonic Wars, increasingly elaborate (and often quite impractical) military attire was devised, particularly by George IV. By the time William IV came to the throne in 1830, uniforms had become too expensive and were simplified and adapted once again. The result of these changes was codified and promulgated in the 1831 Dress Regulations. These paintings were intended to provide a visual record of the recent changes to military dress. Their value is not only historical, however, but also aesthetic: Drahonet produces lively, slightly elongated figures, capturing their facial expressions and setting them in a variety of organic poses.
Each painting in the series depicts a single figure against a neutral background. Although their uniform and accoutrements are the focus, the sitters are often identified by name, as well as regiment and rank. Shown here is Colour-Sergeant Alexander McDonald of the Scots Fusilier Guards, an infantry regiment of the Foot Guards. In 1831, the regiment was granted the title of ‘Fusilier’, which brought with it a higher status and a change of uniform.
In this painting, McDonald models this new uniform, including the tall bearskin with tassels. He also wears the new Foot Guard coatee, double breasted with two rows of buttons and blue facings, and the white trousers permitted in the summer months. His belt plate displays the star of the Order of the Thistle, the regimental badge. On his sleeve are visible the chevrons and badge of Colour-Sergeant, a rank immediately above that of Sergeant which included the role of escorting the ensign who carried the regimental colours.
Provenance
Commissioned by William IV; recorded in the Equerries Room at Windsor Castle in 1878
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on card
Measurements
34.9 x 25.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
JSS 64
