Original reason for shooting / hunting bags ??

[Fred_Dwyer]

OK, now in all seriousness.
There were pockets, and bags. I think a pocket full of shot or ball will not wear as comfortably as a belt and bag of shot. Then returning from the hunt you can hang your bag(s) on a peg or hook and not need to empty out miscellaneous gear from your pockets.
See this painting, circa 1775- bags and pockets.

Pocket flap is just visible below the small petunk under his left elbow.
Judging by the bulge of those petunk, that would be quite a load of stuff for the pockets.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

There were pockets, and bags.

:thumbsup:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Some of the folks who pay attention to history in the fine details are pretty adamant that there were no pockets, and in some settings no belts either.

I have not run into these types of researchers. It appears they may need to pay a bit more attention to the details. :grin:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

OK, now in all seriousness.
There were pockets, and bags. I think a pocket full of shot or ball will not wear as comfortably as a belt and bag of shot. Then returning from the hunt you can hang your bag(s) on a peg or hook and not need to empty out miscellaneous gear from your pockets.
See this painting, circa 1775- bags and pockets.

Pocket flap is just visible below the small petunk under his left elbow.
Judging by the bulge of those petunk, that would be quite a load of stuff for the pockets.

That fine fellow has a game bag for his kill, a waiste belt for holding his shot and probably a belt hooked flask on the other side. Wonder what he might have had in his pockets?

Fred, do you have any further info. on that painting? Thanks for posting it.

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

Only thing I know is they are by Goya.
Here's the one that drew my attention. A curved powder horn that has a hook to wear on the belt. That seems like a good idea, so when hunting you don't have a horn swinging/clattering around. You'll need to zoom the pix to see it.

Here the guy in blue has the horn on his right hip.

(I also noticed the dogs, some tough bird dogs!)

 

[Pete44ru]

T.P. gets as wet as leaves, if in a pants pocket when sitting on the ground.

.

 

[roundball]

T.P. gets as wet as leaves, if in a pants pocket when sitting on the ground.

Those folks would have thought they'd died and gone to heaven if Ziploc bags existed back then...
:grin:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Thanks Fred, I thought that looked like Goya. I had not seen that first one you posted. Those flasks are pretty common with the Spanish of the period.

 

[tg]

I thought that many of the real studious longtime history buffs had lots of pocket references for many 18th century clothing items from what they used to post on the Frontier Folk forum, that place is pretty much a no nonsense historical forum so to speak, they don't toss much around with out heaps of supporting references much of the problem with todays people is they do not wear the typical type of garments that were worn in the 18th century or the garments may have had pockets and are not made as such.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, using old drawings and paintings should be done with caution.

Old mechanical drawings are fairly good representations of whatever they are portraying and drawings in text books are usually accurate.
Artistic paintings often are not.

Artists are trying to capture a mood or a setting in an interesting fashion to captivate the viewers imagination rather than drawing historically accurate depictions of buildings, cloths, guns or other commonly used things that may have been present.

Things that were present may be omitted and things that were not there may have been added if the artist felt they would convey the thoughts and feelings he wished to impart.

All manner of things are often larger or smaller than life if the artist wished to emphasize or ignore them and many details are often incorrect or left out.

 

[LaBonte]

A curved powder horn that has a hook to wear on the belt.

That's a typical Spanish style powder horn of the period with the belt hook attachment. They show up in some Colonial Spanish and Early Mexican collections here in the south west at least.

 

[BrownBear]

Artistic License?

Tell me it ain't so! :wink:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hang around an artist's loft in New York City and see how well they do with hunting scenes. ;-)

The Dutch Realists can be counted on - they took great pride in making the paintings extremely detailed and true-to-life. But watch an outdoor artist at work (my brother in law makes his living at it). They set up an esel and get a rough layout, some sketch the subject in charcoal, maybe some color added. Then they pack-up and go to the studio and add the details.

It's a painting, not a schematic. For every DaVinchi that had a brilliant mechanical and precise mind there is a Monet that just is producing beautiful artwork.

The ones you want are the "illustrators" like Catlin, Russel and Kane.

 

[George]

In his "Pteryplegia: Or, The Art Of Shooting-Flying" in 1727, George Markland said:

"Our Shot of sev'ral sorts, half round the Waste,
In Ticking semicircularly plac'd,
Embrac'd and poiz'd us well."

This is an arrangement similar to the bags belted around the waist in the Goya paintings, I believe. British, rather than Spanish.

Spence

 

[roundball]

In his "Pteryplegia: Or, The Art Of Shooting-Flying" in 1727, George Markland said:

"Our Shot of sev'ral sorts, half round the Waste,
In Ticking semicircularly plac'd,
Embrac'd and poiz'd us well."

This is an arrangement similar to the bags belted around the waist in the Goya paintings, I believe. British, rather than Spanish.

Spence

Yes, and the array of small bags reminds me of a similar concept in a painting which depicted a 'bandolier' of small bottles that held powder or shot

 

[Capt. Jas.]

IMO, using old drawings and paintings should be done with caution.

I would agree. Especially for the novice who does not immerse themselves in other types of documentation. They are invaluable however when you are familiar with the artist, his other work, have a historical working knowledge of whatever material good you are concentrating on, etc.