Drummond, Lord John (1739) - reconstruction of 18th century tartan

[Rod Roy]

Hello Folks,

I´m new here in this forum. As a collector of pre-Culloden tartans, I had in mind to reconstruct an old tartan one day. Now it´s done, and I´m very happy with the result. So I thought I should share some pics.

The tartan shown below is a reconstruction of the tartan worn by Lord John Drummond, Colonel of the Régiment Royal Écossais (1744--1763). I was inspired by the famous painting which was created in 1739 by the Italian court painter Domenico Duprá.

To reconstruct the tartan, I studied the portrait of Lord John Drummond for a long time, then followed my experience, such as my modest knowledge about threadcounts and colours as used in the 18th century.

The original reconstruction of that tartan has already been introduced by Tartan Historian Peter Eslea Macdonald. What you see here is a variant, my own interpretation of the tartan.




The Portrait of Lord John Drummond





A close-up of the historical 18th century herringbone selvedge





The colours I´ve chosen are actually darker as they appear in the photo. For example, the overstripe is Grey and the background colour is a brownish Red.





A close-up of the Sett before making the box pleats for my Kilt





To be honest, I´m very curious if you like my work.
Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Thank you. :-)


All the best,
Rod