IDENTIFIED WAR OF 1812 UNIFORM GROUPING OF A ROYAL NAVY OFFICER.

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024

An exceedingly rare collection of uniform articles, all worn during the War of 1812 by Commander James Crichton of the Royal Navy, consisting of: 1) a "cocked hat" of the chapeau bras form, measuring 18 inches across, with the front fan standing 6 1/2 in. H, the rear fan an inch taller. It is trimmed with a silk cockade with gold vellum loop and small naval button and bullion tassels set at the corners. The lining remains inside, on which is pasted the label of its maker: “H. WILKES / 64 High Street / PORTSMOUTH / HATTER” (Hester Wilkes worked at this address from 1811-1817). 2) his 1812-1815 commander's epaulettes of gold vellum lace and bullion fringe, with underside and pad covered in yellow silk with attachment ties. 3) 28 gilt-brass Royal Navy commissioned officer buttons of the 1812 pattern survive from his uniform coat, all 7/8 in. diameter and back-marked "HAMMOND, TURNER & DICKINSON"; and 4) the tassel of his sword knot. All of these uniform components are seen in an original c. 1816 portrait of Crichton (formerly in my collection), a color photograph of which accompanies the lot. In addition: 5) an 1834 letter from his son George in Halifax, NS; 6) an 1820s naval button mounted as a lapel or shirt pin for wear in civilian dress (with its case), and 7) a 19th century prayer book with family inscriptions. The career of Royal Navy officer James Augustus Seymour Crichton (1770-1834) typified that of most of his peers. Competent and intelligent, he lacked the patronage and perhaps more important, that essential “luck” that ensured one promotion to post-captain and thence, to flag rank. Born in Tayside, Scotland, he went to sea at an early age and was made a lieutenant in 1799. While serving on the Atlantic station aboard the frigate MELAMPUS in 1807, he met Mary Creighton of Halifax, Nova Scotia, marrying her the following year. Crichton spent most of the War of 1812 on the North American station. Appointed to the rank of commander on 12 August 1812, he was given the temporary command of the frigate AEOLUS (32 guns) on 10 August 1813, then appointed to command the BUSTARD on 3 September 1813 and finally, to the sloop-of-war RINGDOVE on 15 November 1814. During Pellew’s naval attack on Algiers in 1816, he commanded a bomb vessel with great distinction. This last action of Crichton’s career is commemorated in the background of his aforementioned portrait, in which he wears the full-dress uniform of a “Master and Commander”, the same as worn by a Post Captain but without crowns on the epaulettes. He retired on half-pay in 1816 and after the death of his wife in 1819, left Nova Scotia and returned to Scotland, dying in 1834. PROVENANCE: by descent in family to Oliver W. Crichton of Wilmington, Delaware (d. 2012); acquired in 2013. CONDITION: The hat very good, some light edge wear; epaulettes, very good with some minor soiling/damage to the silk undersides; buttons excellent, retaining nearly 100 % of the gilt finish, shank missing on one button; sword knot fair, with light tarnish and surface wear and missing its suspension cord.