Three Men and a Boat – Summer 1855

At the height of the summer boating season, three men meet by the river bank in England in the summer of 1855. The man on the left displays the back of a fitted, camel colored frock coat that has two buttons at the back waistline. He wears slim pale blue trousers with a small gray cross-hatch pattern. He has striped stockings and low heeled black shoes with small bows. He wears gray gloves and carries a tan felt hat and a walking stick. His hair is short and wavy and he wears a mustache and long sideburns.

The man in the center is dressed more casually. He wears a white shirt and a striped cravat tied into a loose bow. He wears a loosely-buttoned green waistcoat and loose fitting tan trousers. His lounge coat has a small black on gray tattersall plaid, and is fastened at the top with a small horizontal tab. He wears a white handkerchief in his breast pocket, yellow gloves, and a gray felt hat. Resting his foot on the stern of a wooden boat, he shows his bow-detailed shoes and pink stockings. He has his right hand casually in his pocket.

He wears a mustache, long sideburns, and smokes a thin cigar. Holding his friend’s arm is the next man who is more formally dressed. He wears a black frock coat, a white pleated high-collared shirt, and a pink striped cravat. His waistcoat is a green floral pattern. He wears gray trousers over black heeled boots or shoes, gray gloves, a black top hat, and carries a walking stick. The three men stand against a trellised fence partially covered with trees.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges