Coat
Category
Costume
Date
1930 - 1939
Materials
Wool, metallic thread, braid and cotton lining.
Order this imageCollection
Mount Stewart, County Down
NT 1656001.1
Caption
Livery colours based on the coat-of-arms of noble families have been worn by those who served them since medieval times. By the 18th century servants on public view were provided with livery that demonstrated the status of their employer, with their powdered wigs, tailcoats and breeches styled to echo the fashion at court. The state livery of the Marquess of Londonderry, worn by his footmen and coachman for the coronation of George VI (1895–1952) and his queen, Elizabeth (1900–2002), on 12 May 1937, shows a suit design largely unchanged since the 18th century. It features a cutaway tailcoat and plush yellow knee-breeches worn above pink stockings and patent-leather buckled pumps. In the 1930s the cost of this luxurious outfit, featuring silver braid and silver crested buttons, and a crested insignia epaulette on the right shoulder, was an enormous 50 guineas (the equivalent of around £3,000 today). This may explain why livery was regularly passed on to new staff, each recording their name on the coat lining. Footman Arthur Inch (right), whose name is inked in one tailcoat, described the coronation as the highlight of his life in private service. Emma Slocombe
Summary
A blue facecloth coat with silver frogging part of a footman's livery, 1930s.
Provenance
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Trust, 2013