Dressed to Kill, Dressed to Till
A handsome and stylish uniform of a volunteer militia officer, well-cut and made of deep blue superfine wool cloth, with collar, lapels, cuff and skirt turnbacks of scarlet. The collar is framed with ½ inch-wide silver lace, while the non-functional lapels are trimmed with 11 “false” buttonholes of narrow, white silk cording, each terminating with a New York militia button set near the outer edge of the lapel. The 7/8 inch-diameter buttons are of silvered brass and bear an eagle on globe over the motto “Excelsior” on their face (Albert NY10) and back-marked “TREBLE PLATED”. The 4 inch-deep, round cuffs are similarly trimmed with 4 white corded holes and NY buttons of same size, with a slit opening corresponding to the sleeve back-seam. Cross pocket flaps edged in scarlet, with scalloped bottom edges are set on the top of each skirt, with four holes worked in silk twist on the flaps and four NY buttons set in correspondence below, with two buttons set on the hips and another four buttons set in each skirt plait, for a total of 48 buttons (of which one is now missing). The breast of the coat and skirts are lined with glazed white serge (a worsted twill), while the back in unlined. A functional welted pocket is set in the top of the skirt lining on each side. With the coat is a military “chapeau bras” of beaver felt, bound with 2 inch-wide, black silk tape, with one each showing on the outside. It has a wide hatband of black morocco leather on the inside, with a black silk lining above. It retains is original plume, of scarlet feathers wrapped around a stem of whale baleen, 18 inches long overall. On the 4 ¾ inch-long exposed stem is scratch-inscribed “WM LYON”. William Lyon of Westchester County, New York was a lieutenant in the 38th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia in 1810 and promoted to captain in the same in 1815, which rank he retained through 1821. He must have been promoted again during the 1820s, as this coat (with waist-seam and back that suggests a date range of 1825-1832) bears evidence of bearing the two epaulettes worn by field grade officers (majors and above). It was acquired by the late William Guthman from Lyon descendants c. 2002 and subsequently sold during the estate sale of his collection by Northeast Auctions on 12 Oct. 2006 as lot 618; from thence to private collection until acquired in 2016. The coat had some scattered spots of insect browse and loose trimmings, which were filled and reattached, respectively, by Henry Cooke IV of Historic Costume Services in 2021. The chapeau has some light damage, esp. to the top of the back fan, where the felt edges have short splits and the binding is frayed.
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