Fine figures in toy soldier style produced by
At this time, British uniforms were, in the main, a
deep red colour (with facings) - the 'dye' used being a mixture of
iron oxides (called Venetian red)
This
Venetian red colour was notoriously fugitive and difficult
to produce as an even dye colouring in production
The two figures above illustrate the basic style of uniform beginning to be adopted by the late Protectorate army during the 1650's and onwards, and throughout the armies of Europe
It should be noted that pikes were still in use during this period, though increasingly for ceremonial purposes (but they were still in offensive use until the late 1690's, and were probably available if not in regular use for a short time after this)The basic colour which we use for these early 'red' regiments is shown with (Venetian red) the line drawings below (many of which are copied or adapted from drawings in Bowling's book), but different colours were well in evidence through the early Civil War as material was available, and as dirt and army 'life' happened - of particular interest was 'Watchet blue',
The 'facing' colours in the Protectorate mainly continued to be those in use throughout the later part of the civil wars, that is white, blue, green, and yellow
The Restoration
Uniforms 1655 - 1684