Guards turned out, Coldstream Guards, 1893 (c)

Glass negative, W Gregory and Company, 51 Strand, London, 1895 (c).

This image comes from a collection of glass plate negatives associated with William Gregory and Company. The negatives depict the British Army, including some members of the colonial forces, 'at home' in Britain during the 1890s.

As well as being intimate portraits of soldiers from this era, the images provide detailed illustrations of uniforms worn during the high point of military tailoring.

This image shows eight Coldstream Guards, one of whom is a bugler. The glass negative provides an excellent illustration of the Coldstream Guards' uniform in the last year of the nineteenth century.

The bugler in this picture is wearing a pillbox cap and holding a bugle. His scarlet jacket has band wings on the shoulders, and is elaborately laced with white and blue braid on the sleeves and across the chest. The blue decorations on the braids are fleur-de-lys, a design feature that recalls Britain's ancient claim to France. The buttons of the tunics, grouped in pairs, identify the regiment as the Coldstream Guards. The cuffs are round with a four buttoned slash. The blue cloth trousers have scarlet side-stripes two inches wide.

The privates are pictured wearing scarlet single breasted tunics. The buttons of the tunics, as well as the cuffs, trousers, and cap are identical to those worn by the bugler. The collars, cuffs, and shoulder straps are piped white. The Privates are pictured holding rifles.