Officer's coat
1785-1795
Wool, linen, metal
Overall: 3 x 19 x 43 1/2 in. ( 7.6 x 48.3 x 110.5 cm )
Gift of John Ward Dunsmore
1941.1214
This Lieutenant's coat was used as a costume by Revolutionary War genre painter John Ward Dunsmore (1856-1945). Dunsmore attended Cincinnati's School of Design 1873-1875, and exhibited at the Salon in Paris in 1878. His interests turned toward the Revolutionary War and archaeology, when he began working with William Calver and Regianld Bolton after 1901. According to Military expert William L. Brown, this coat is a unique example of enlisted men's Revolutionary War dress.
DescriptionDark blue wool single-breasted regimental Lieutenant's (?) tailcoat with red stand-up double collar, lapels and open cuffs (1 button fastener); 4 sets of hooks and eyes along the chest, 10 plain double-gilt buttons along each lapel, 4 buttons around each 2 1/2" cuff above blind buttonholes on close fitted sleeves; 4 panels at the back of the bodice, with 2 buttons near the center at the waistline, pockets with flaps at the top of each tail near the hip with 3 buttons beneath, a button at the bottom of each tail; coat lined with white linen, an interior slit pocket (horizontal) at the top of each tail, blue wool felt hearts at the 4 bottom corners of the tails, with hooks and eyes to keep the corners folded back.MarkingsStamped reverse of lapel buttons: "DOUBLE GILT"
InscribedHandwritten inside left breast: "(illeg.) Houston (?)"
ClassificationsMILITARY TOOLS & EQUIPMENT: UNIFORM
