Subject: aristocratic gentleman
Culture: English
Setting: Georgian period, England / British empire mid-late 18thc
* Manchester Art Gallery > Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion
"Sir Gregory Page-Turner 1768 Pompeo Batoni (1708-1805) Oil on canvas The 20-year-old siter in this portrait was known for his extravagant living and fine clothes. Here he wears a spectacular suit decorated with costly gold thread embroidery. The glittering effect of such embellishment can be seen in the 18th century red coat with silver trim on display nearby.
"Page-Turner was undertaking a lavish Grand Tour of Europe when he sat for this portrait in Rome. His outfit is probably French or Italian, made-to-measure in the latest fashion. The sumptuous fabrics and details are skilfully painted by Batoni, who styled his sitters with an air of confident ease, capturing their social status, wealth and fashionable tastes. Typically, Batoni also included Roman settings and based the sitter's pose on those found in classical studies."
Manchester Art Gallery> Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion *
"A Gentleman 1775-80 Josephy Wright of Derby (1734-1797) Oil on canvas This unknown sitter presents a picture of casual simplicity with a fashionably cut lilac woollen frockcoat and simply wound cravat. The coat is very similar to the example shown nearby which was worn by Thomas Carill Worsley. Sleeves became close fitting in the late 1770s and the body of a coat more figure hugging, foreshadowing the perfect fit of the dandy era to follow. His wig has been dressed in the fashionably high style of the later 1770s.
"Wright painted mostly prosperous middle-class clients who wished to convey their respectability and sobriety. There is a directness and honesty in his portrayal of this man who holds a book, a symbol of knowledge and learning."
* Manchester Art Gallery > Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion
"John Horne Tooke 1777 Richard Brompton (1734-1783) Oil on canvas Tooke (1736-1812) was a cleric, politician, classical scholar and tutor to wealthy young men on the Grand Tour, travelling to Italy for leisure and education. Inspired by European fashions, these travellers adopted bright contrasting colours, high wigs and tight-fitting suits. Known as Macaronis, they were satirised for excess and effeminacy.
"Tooke's own clothing was probably not as elaborate as that of his rich clients, but he had a clear interest in dress and image. Here he wears a fashionably cut woollen suit, lined with red silk and decorated with bejewelled or enamelled buttons. Apparently, he abandoned hsi clearical costume in the 1760s and was seen in 'very unclerical suits of flowered silk and gold lace.'"
Manchester Art Gallery> Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion *
"Sir Edward Turner 1762 Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) Oil on canvas Turner's suit is made of a French woven silk, richly decorated with a small-scale repeating pattern. It is rare to see such a busy fabric represented in a portrait although similar suits survive in museum collections. A mauve example from the 1760s-70s, with an all-over pattern, is on display in the case nearby.
"Turner was a landowner and Member of Parliament whose wealth came from large investments in the East India Company. His flamboyant outfit, like that of his son Gregory in the portrait by Batoni nearby, shows the influence of French fashion on British menswear in the 18th century before the triumph of the London tailoring trade after 1800." ...
* Manchester Art Gallery > Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion
"A Gentleman in a Green Jacket 1775-85 English School Oil on canvas The unknown sitter wears the relatively informal outfit typical of the fashionable English country gentleman of the late 18th century. This was the prototype for the formalised tailored style of the original dandy Beau Brummell in the early 19th century. The frockcoat is fastened with a single button and has wide lapels open to reveal the brilliant white shirt and silk waistcoat, drawing the eye to the sitter's face. He wears contrasting black breeches and a wig.
"Outdoor settings, of personal estates or imagined landscapes, casual dress and more informal poses were increasingly favoured for portraits in the second half of the 18th century. These choices conveyed the sitter's connection to fashion and taste, as did the neo-classical garden ornament."
Manchester Art Gallery > Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion *
"A Young Gentleman c. 1760-65 Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) Oil on canvas This unknown sitter was previously assumed to be an officer because of his dress. In the 18th century, army and navy uniforms were typically blue and/or red and decorated with gold embroidery and buttons. This cannot be identified as any military uniform but was possibly that of a club or society.
"The trend for military portraits perhaps influenced the sitter and this portrait was painted in Bath, a fashionable city at this time. Uniforms lent gravitas and respectability to the wearer, qualities that are also conveyed by his pose. A hand tucked into a coat denoted upper class status and, according to etiquette books of the period, was an appropriately bold but modest gesture."
* Manchester Art Gallery > Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion
"Thomas Carill Worsley of Platt 1765-70 Attributed to John Astley (1724-1787) Oil on canvas Carill Worsley (1739-1809) wears a blue velvet suit of matching coat, breeches and waistcoat. The outfit would have been made-to-measure by his tailor and is cut in the mainstream style of the day. The lace sleeve ruffles and cravat, and the silver lace trim suggest a man of means, but one who is smart rather than extravagantly fashionable.
"The sitter was a member of a prominent Manchester family who lived at Platt Hall in Rusholme from the 1760s. The gallery acquired items from his wardrobe in 1954, including a horsehair wig complete with black wig bag, a pair of leather shoes, and a range of suits, coats and waistcoats, some of which are on display elsewhere in the exhibition."
* Dallas Museum of Art
"George Romney British, 1734-1802 Young Man with a Flute Late 1760s Oil on canvas ...
With its bright, well-rubbed mahogany table and its precise description of a traverso flute with silver rings, this half-length portrait is a very delicate and elegant representation of a young amateur musician. This painting has recently been reattributed to the famous British portrait painter George Romney. The fabrics, the golden embroideries, and the face of the young man are characteristic features of early works by the artist. It was painted in the late 1760s when Romney was still traveling in the country to gain commissions and patronage. Although never a member of the Royal Academy, he became the main rival for Sir Joshua Reynolds. Romney aspired to be a history painter, but he was never able to give up his career as a portrait painter, which gained him fame and fortune."
