The Highlanders of Scotland

[HarborSpringsPiper]

So on to the next question.

In reviewing the pictures I notice Archibald MacIntosh is wearing a vest that appears more like a sleeveless coat. It looks longer than the other vests and has piping on the lower pockets, almost tashlike. He is also wearing his belt over it like it was a doublet. The buttons on it also seem to go off up the right side instead of being centered.


Can anyone tell me more about this garment? Am I just looking at it too hard?

Thanks,
Joe

Good observations and I confess, the type of detail I often overlook. My first thought is this mostly represents a late 18th century/early 19th century waistcoat. The thing that strikes me most about this is that it has a lower or more open collar than I associate with that era of waistcoat. The pocket flaps are certainly consistent with that type of waistcoat. I see what you are saying about them being "tache like", but I (rightly or wrongly) would reserve the term tache to refer to a pocket/flap that hung below the waistline, not a pocket flap like this. I absolutely agree with you that this is longer and more like a "sleeeveles coat" than what we would think of as a vest (in American parlance, anyway) that certainly became standard by the mid-19th century.

Now we come to the "buttons on it also seem to go off up the right side instead of being centered" observation you made, which is an excellent pick-up IMHO. This is one of those areas that I believe MacLeay deviated from the actual "picture" if you follow my drift. I suppose I first must acknowledge that these prints are mostly accepted to be the next best things to actual photographs and there's no denying that he paid attention to an immense amount of detail on the whole. I think that what we are really seeing is indeed a waistcoat that buttoned close to the neck and we are left with somewhat of an illusion by how the waistcoat seems to be "done-up" but MacLeay still drew the buttons in place as it was not buttoned up completely. I could be totally wrong but I'm not sure how else to logically explain what we see.

I surmise that the odd pair of hose with "lines" that Richard pointed out above is a similarly less than accurate portrayal of that particular gent's hose. I know for some this is tantamout to heresy, but I think all artists take a little license now and again.