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Auction: 6025 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 96

A 19th Century Officer´s Uniform of the Royal Navy A massive bicorn hat by G & WH GILLOTT, 36 STRAND, with 10in. high fan, edges bound with black oakleaf lace, black silk rosette and twisted bullion loop (small gilt button now detached but present) and large bullion tassels, leather internal headband and white silk lining bearing maker´s name in gold tooling, complete with its shaped tin; a good blue coatee, circa 1830 - 43, with scarlet collar and cuffs, gold "Vellum" lace edging to collar, cuffs, cuff- and skirt-slashes, two rows of ten richly gilt crowned Anchor buttons, by G & W BOGGETT Ltd, LONDON, with roped edges, to front, white kerseymere skirt-linings, (narrow cloth inserts to both forearms); with its fine epaulette/scale set, by LAMBERT & BROWN, MANUFACTURERS, 236 Regent Street, with gold "Vellum" lace straps, rope-edged gilt buttons bearing the crown and anchor, worked crescents and edges, the epaulette with massive boxed bullions, the crescents lined with blue silk, the straps with black Morocco leather linings, both bearing maker´s paper label, blue silk attachment-laces, in their pear-shaped tin; a white kerseymere waistcoat, with collar and seven small gilt buttons, matching those on the coatee; a pair of fine blue cloth trousers, with black braid foot-straps and stripes of 1in. gold lace; a pair of plain trousers; and a black patent leather sword belt and slings with gilt fittings, the centre of the circular waist-plate bearing the crowned Anchor, the outer element in the form of a laurel wreath (lot) See illustration of coatee etc on …and hat and epaulettes on Page… Note: George Gillott, the maker of the cocked hat, was trading as a tailor at 36 Strand under the name of Billings & Gillott at least as early as 1830. The business had become Geo Gillott by 1835, and in 1839 was joined by William Henry Gillott and adopted the title as shown in the lining of the hat. The firm was still under the same name and address in 1847, being referred to as tailors rather than hatters throughout the period. The manufacturers of the epaulette and scale appear in the Trade Directory for 1830 as Lambert & Holbeck. In the 1833 Directory the business appears as Lambert & Co, becoming Lambert & Brown in 1834 or 1835, retaining this form until at least 1840. In the 1845 Directory they are shown as Lambert, Brown & Co. The firm traded at 236 Regent St throughout this period. The bullions on naval officers´ epaulettes were boxed (like those illustrated here) until 1843, and loose thereafter. It appears that Lieutenants wore a single epaulette on the right shoulder from 1812 until 1846, but regulations are not explicit about whether a scale was worn on the left shoulder. However, the fact that the epaulette and scale with this uniform are clearly a set, and that the coatee has lace-holes on both shoulders, strongly suggests that the epaulette and scale were in fact worn simultaneously by Lieutenants. Gold-embroidered sword-belts were worn in Full Dress from July 1832 onwards: it would therefore appear that the black leather belt in this lot is for Undress only. Estimate £ 600-900

Sold for
£3,600