A Portrait of an Oxford Nobleman, circa 1705

Abstract

The caption (painted, possibly much later, in the lower left corner) reads 'James Fourth Earl of Salisbury painted by W. Sowyiens'. However the clothing and style of wig make this unlikely. The portrait almost certainly shows James Cecil the Fifth Earl, born 1691, succeeded 1694, matriculated Christ Church Oxford 1705, created MA 1707, married 1709, died 1728. The painter is most likely William Sonmans, who died in 1708. The Earl is depicted wearing, over his partly buttoned light blue coat, a curious garment that at first sight looks like a scarf, but on close examination more like a long sleeveless gown, made in the then-fashionable colours of pale blue and brown silk lavishly brocaded with gold thread. (This thread appears brown in the portrait, as do the gold braid 1 and buttons on his coat.) In his left hand he holds a square academic cap, with a gold tassel turned toward the viewer. The portrait is therefore likely to be a memento of the Fifth Earl's time as an undergraduate, but there are some interesting anomalies. The square cap with a gold tassel is the first surprise, as it seems remarkably early. According to Hargreaves-Mawdsley, 'During the eighteenth century … [peers] wore round black velvet bonnets. The wearing of gold tassels on their bonnets by noblemen made its appearance in 1738, but was not yet countenanced by statute. The statutes of 1770, however, allowed noblemen, baronets, and gentlemen-commoners to have square black velvet caps instead of round bonnets, with tassels, gold ones for noblemen …'. 2 And yet here we have a square cap, with a gold tassel, apparently within a year or so of 1705. Noblemen (along with certain other classes of undergraduate) had previously worn square caps: regarding the latter part of the seventeenth century Hargreaves-Mawdsley writes 'gentleman-commoners had for some time been covetous of the square cap 3 and in 1675 were wearing it with the permission of the vice-chancellor. … In 1686 this practice of wearing a square cap was well established; but was forbidden and finally suppressed in 1689.' 4 In fact, the admonishment of 1689 merely states 'That many Gentlemen Commoners and others weare square Capps with Tuffts that have not performed any Exercise in the Theater [sic] to entitle them thereunto'. 5 1 What we now call 'braid' was referred to as 'lace' in the period. To avoid confusion we use modern terms by default throughout this paper. 2 Hargreaves-Mawdsley, p 94. 3 Presumably the noblemen and baronets were already wearing the square cap, and it was this practice that the gentlemen-commoners coveted. 4 Op. cit., p. 93, n 7; p. 94, nn. 2, 3. 5 Buxton and Gibson, p. 32, clause 2, quoting Reg. Conv. Bb 29, at end. We take this 'tuft' to refer the black pom-pom, sometimes called a 'tump' , such as the one worn in 1675 by Loggan's MA, see Fig. 2, rather than to a gold tassel. See n. 9, below.