Help with Graham Kilts, sporran and silver dress buttons

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Thanks Macmillan of Rathdown for taking the time to give me some feedback on the family items.

I just posted a response from a friend re the breeches which is interesting. Life gets more complicated with breeches, kilts are a much more straightforward business! It looks like we may send all the items to Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh for a proper valuation. I don't know yet what that will cost but hopefully the items are worth enough to justify doing that. Depending on how old the gold ring is and with the Lord Lynedoch provenance for this, the silk dress breeches and his correspondence with Lord Melbourne, it may be worthwhile.

Best wishes,

Hugh

Hi Hugh,

As you say, life does get more complicated when dealing with breeches.

When dating any artifact, and that includes clothes, one always goes with the most recent-- not oldest-- probable date. Everything your costumer-friend has said may, or may not, be accurate. However, what has been over-looked in his/her analysis are these simple facts:

1) Black knee britches, often of silk, are worn by a variety of people, even today. That list includes Bishops, Deans, and Arch-deacons in the Church of England; the Heralds in England, Scotland, and Ireland; any number of Judges and those lawyers who have "taken silk", ie: are Queen's Counselors; liveried servants; etc.

2) Items of clothing, such as this, are bespoke-- that is to say they were and are a 100% hand tailored garment, made (at no little cost) to fit a specific individual. Thus, the method of construction will allow for very little variation between the 1700s and the 1900s. That method of construction includes hand sewing, with little or no use of the sewing machine. Style during this period will change, but only subtly. For example: zipper flies will become common after the Second World War. On items of civil uniform, and some military uniforms (US Navy "cracker jacks" for instance) the drop front fly will generally not be superseded by the vertical fly until after the First World War, if it is altered at all. Even today a gentleman ordering riding breeches from Giddings may specify a flap front if that is his preference.

Is it possible that the silk breeches are from the 18th century? Of course it's possible, but in my opinion without seriously good provenance to support that contention-- and by provenance I mean more than the mere opinion of a theatrical costumer based on looking at photographs-- I would suggest that one is probably better advised to err on the side of cautiously dating the breeches to the 19th or early 20th century. Which is what I've done. Whether or not I'm an expert on the subject of 18th century clothing-- I'm not-- has nothing to do with it at all. I can merely base my opinion on three things:

1) there is no proof offered as to the date when these were first worn by the original owner;
2) the method of construction is common to garments of this type made in the 19th and early 20th centuries (indeed my riding breeches made by Giddings in 1976 have a virtually identical flap and lace at the back);
3) As a collector of militaria I have attended hundreds of auctions over the past 40+ years, and have seen similar items regularly sold for amounts well within the price range suggested. It is my opinion that, in the absence of irrefutable provenance, it is better to underestimate the value of an item than to raise hopes by suggesting a value which may not be realistic.

I would respectfully suggest that before you and your costumer friend get in a fight over a pair of breeches at the next auction that he/she might want to spend a few decades visiting the auction rooms across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom to see what antique clothing actually sells for. To put the question of value into perspective, in 2005 the colonel's uniform of HRH Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland, was offered by Sotheby's for 800-1,200 Euro. The uniform dated from c.1878, included the cocked hat with plume, red coat, and black trousers, sword belt and sash, had full provenance and was in excellent condition. The final hammer price? Euro 1,500.

In any event, good luck in sorting this out.

MoR