ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

Fairholt originally published sections of Costume of England between 1842 and 1845
as articles in the journal The Art Union with the aim of aiding artists in their quest for
historical accuracy. 140 Two previously unidentified drawings by Brown at the
Ashmolean Museum (Fig. 106) appear to be copies of an illustration published in the
magazine in January 1843 (Fig. 107) rather than the one published in the book. 141
Both the article and the later book also contain an illustration described by Fairholt as
'the ordinary costume of the commonality' (Fig. 108). He further explains that
the male figure is habited in a long gown buttoned from the neck to the
waist, and having loose hanging sleeves to the elbow, beneath which
appear the tight sleeves of the tunic. A hood covers the head and
shoulders which is frequently seen folded back or hanging down
behind.' 142
This illustration appears to have been the inspiration for the costume of the triangle
player, sitting next to the Troubadour, in Chaucer (Fig. 2).
140
Between 1 October 1842 and 1 October 1844 Fairholt sporadically published as series of articles
entitled 'Notes on British Costume' in The Art Journal (vol. 4, no. 45, pp. 223-229 and no. 48, pp. 247-
253; vol. 5, no. 48, pp. 5-9; no. 49, pp. 31-34; no. 51, pp. 79-82; no. 52, pp. 105-107; no. 55, pp. 183-
187; no. 58, pp. 255-258; no. 59, pp. 279-282; vol. 6, no. 62, pp. 32-35; no. 66, pp. 137-141; no. 72, pp.
275-279). On 1 January and 1 March 1845 he published a two part article on 'Boots and Shoes in
England' (vol. 7, no. 76, pp. 9-11 and no. 78, pp. 70-72). Later that year he also published a four part
article on 'Head-coverings in England' (vol. 7, no. 81, pp. 149-151; no. 82, pp. 230-231; no. 86 pp. 305-
306 and no. 87, pp. 333-334).
141
The illustration in The Art Journal, like that of the figure on the left in the Ashmolean, shows the
mouth shut. In the later illustration used in Costume of England the mouth is open (Fairholt, 'Notes on
British Costume, Part the Third: The Plantagenets,' The Art Union, vol. 5, no. 48, 1 January 1843, p. 8
and Fairholt, Costume in England, p. 114). Although Brown often records using the British Museum
Reading Room in his diary, it is unlikely that he saw the original manuscript in the Museum as in the
manuscript the figure's mouth is open (Illuminated manuscript entitled Speculum humanae salvationis,
c. 1330-1340, Sloane manuscript 346, now in the British Library).
142
Fairholt, 'Notes on British Costume. Part the Third: The Plantagenets,' 1843, p. 8 and op. cit. at note
22, pp. 111-112.
121