An embroidered jackal or fox races across the collar of this linen coat. Jackal hunting was popular among British soldiers and administrators living in India during the nineteenth century. The rules were based on the British fox hunt although the hunting packs tended to be made up of dogs of different breeds known as ‘Bobbery-Packs’ in Anglo-Indian colloquial terms, and hence the name ‘Bobbery Hunt’.
This light linen coat would have proved ideal for hot climates, replacing the heavy woollen cloth used for British hunts. It was probably worn by the huntsman who looked after the dogs, as the slanting pocket on the front could have held a hunting whistle or horn. The collar is very similar to one worn by the Earl of Darlington for a Yorkshire hunt in 1826: ‘Lady Arabella was attired in her scarlet habit, and his Lordship in a straight-cut scarlet coat, with an embroidered fox on the collar, a hat, and a leather girdle across his shoulder. His two whippers-in were also in hats, and had the embroidered fox on the collar.’