Now, about those wigs…

sagestreet:

Before I
return to my ‘Black Sails’ art posts, I would like to say a few words about
those unfortunate wigs that we have, by now, probably all had a good laugh
about.

I should
probably point out that I’m far from an expert on wigs (and hope never to have
to become one *knocks on wood*;)). When it comes to paintings, I can at least
claim to be an interested layman; wigs, however, are not at all my specialty,
so you should take everything I’m writing here cum grano salis.

(Spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Black Sails’ below.
No spoilers for season 3 that I can think of, except for one tiny, not really
spoilerish reference.)

The first such hairpiece that we see on Thomas
Hamilton’s head is a so-called allonge
wig, i.e. a full-bottomed wig:

(All
screencaps in this post were taken from here.)

An allonge is
a wig of very long, usually dark, curls. (The classic allonge style was dark brown,
but over time men started to prefer ever-lighter colours like grey and white,
with added powder on top.)

Now, as you
can probably guess from the French name, allonge wigs were originally invented
in France and popularised by King Louis XIII in the first half of the 17^th
century, in other words: this style is already quite ‘old school’ at the time
this ‘Black Sails’ scene is set in. It’s not exactly out-dated or old-fashioned
yet, but it’s certainly a rather conservative look. At the beginning of the 18^th
century (the era ‘Black Sails’ is set in) these types of wigs were only worn by
the aristocratic class or judges anymore and were considered pretty formal even
then.

In other
words, Thomas in this scene represents the face (if not the heart) of the
establishment. When we are introduced to him, he comes in an official capacity:
He comes on behalf of his father (who, in turn, speaks on behalf of the Crown)
to meet the new Navy liaison. In this scene, Thomas represents his family and
their interests.

This
reading is backed up by the fact that Thomas’s father Alfred Hamilton, once we
meet him a few episodes later, is wearing a very similar brown allonge:

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