Hi Dmitry,
Many thanks for your input. When I first saw this piece my initial thoughts were that the silk was some sort of patriotic display with faded red, white and blue and my first instinct pointed to revolutionary France but of course red, white and blue is in a way the worst of all combinations in that many countries have these three in some form or other, U.K., Rev. France, Netherlands after 1795 and of course North America amongst others. I think I will have to see if I can contact the textile expert at Kelvingrove Museum to determine if the original colour is indeed red or orange. The orange colour is quite even where the cloth was knotted/folded and I did think that if it had been red some vestiges, however small, of red would have remained in these folds and if not at least a noticeable progression of fading. I tend to agree that the silk is not a sword knot but more of a show of patriotism or expression of loyalty etc,. Thanks for your interest.
My Regards,
Norman.
P.S. I based my dating on similar pieces on the net, albeit very few, and indeed the sword in the Man at Arms article, although of course not an exact match, is described as typical for pieces 1750-1770 but I suppose a certain fluidity of style was quite common throughout the 18thC and therefore exact dating somewhat speculative. You of course have the advantage over me having handled many more pieces of this vintage.
