Quote from: mollinary on 25 January 2012, 06:27:19 PM

I also have the 1866 Saxons, and 2 Austrian corps, the rest are on their way to Sri Lanka.

Wow!

Mollinary

What happens in Sri Lanka, Mollinary? 

WOW! That's a lot of figures!  

Le Manchou’s post of 22 January is of particular interest because he gave us a link to an engraving appearing to show the Artillery of the Guard in the plain blue veste rather than the red-frogged dolman, although the illustration is not clear enough to be completely certain about this. This is contrary to many authorities, most notably Detaille in En Batterie who shows the Guard gunners at Rezonville in dolmans. However, it is consistent with the view of Louis Delpérier, the doyen of Second Empire uniform studies, who writes in the first of his Osprey Men-at-Arms title on the French army of 1870 that only officers and NCOs wore the dolman on campaign and that gunners wore the veste. A plate in Delpérier’s more recent La Garde Impériale de Napoléon III shows a Guard gunner in 1870 wearing the veste.

Delpérier strikes a further blow at the accuracy of Detaille’s great picture (and at the romantics among us all) when he writes in La Garde Impériale de Napoléon III that the trumpeter’s white dolman was worn in full dress only, not on campaign. This is scarcely surprising. A white dolman worn in action would have made the unfortunate trumpeter even more of a ‘bullet magnet’ than was actually the case.


Vitrier

Hertsblue, Sri Lanka is a magic isle where the painting elves live, and if their palms are crossed with silver they weave their magic and my battalions return complete.  A bit of basing and flagging to create a sense of uniformity and Bob's your uncle. A sad necessity for me - afflicted with the triple plagues of megalomania, no time and more money than sense.

Vitrier, thanks for bringing that up on the guard artillery uniforms. I Had read of this theory, and eminently sensible it seems to me. But ultimately it is a question between field uniform and dress uniform, and the Wargamer's choice.   I appreciate that I might have expressed myself better about Detaille, but what I meant to remark on was the accuracy of his uniforms vis a vis a particular period, rather than exactly what was worn by a regiment at a particular event.  The red trouser debate was rather different,  as I had not seen any source which suggested that this ever formed part of any guard artillery uniform, although Bernie has now pointed me towards an apparent reference in a Wargamer's painting guide by Sapherson.  We live and learn.

Mollinary

Mollinary

It is for me to apologise if I gave the impression of being a pernickety critic of Detaille’s work. It was to a large extent his pictures in the Musée de l’Armée in Paris that first got me interested in the Second Empire over forty years ago. Sadly, most have now been withdrawn to storage. Above all, I regret the disappearance of En Batterie, which used to preside so majestically over the museum’s staircase.

Vitrier

Vitrier,

Not a case of anyone having to apologise - I certainly did not take your post as pernickety. It merely got me to re-read my own post, and to realise that what I was trying to say could be misinterpreted.    As it happens I think the veste theory is very plausible, but unfortunately the Pendraken figures are wearing the dolman! Actually I don't think it is so unfortunate, because they are great figures.

Regards,

Mollinary

Mollinary

Happily, in 10mm the presence or absence of frogging on jackets can be dealt with by the paintbrush. Furthermore, I think all ranks wore the dolman in the Crimea, and in Italy in 1859.

Vitrier