2nd Guard Ulan Tschapka with Musician Plume

[ww1czechlegion]

Hello,

I recently acquired this Tschapka from a friend who purchased it on an auction in the New England states area several months ago. The auction had a couple of WW1 uniforms on the sale, and a Line Kurassier Officer helmet in relic condition as well, apparently all from a family in the area of the auction house.

The piece is in uncleaned condtion, and I'm debating whether or not to have some restoration work done on it by the master of restoration if he would like to do the work. Specifically re-stitching the calfskin liner back onto the shell of the Tschapka, and maybe repairing the black finish on the rear corner of the mortar board. Maybe I should simply leave it as it is, and gently re-shape the rear of the helmet which will take some time and patience in itself.

A couple of nice surprises were made after I acquired it and was poking around looking inside: I found the Officer Kokarde affixed with the facing or exterior side placed inside the helmet shell underneath the liner (which discolored the silver ring on the kokarde), affixed by the split brads of the rosette. Apparently someone had taken the rosette apart years ago, and why they placed the kokarde inside the helmet I have no idea. I also found the small brass nut and tin washer for the viewer's left side of the front plate post. The nut and washer had rattled around inside the sweatband when I picked the helmet up before starting to photograph. It's a miracle the nut and washer didn't fall out at the auction house, or in the parking lot where I met my friend and decided to purchase the tshapka, as they would most likely have been lost forever if they had fallen out.

The Red Horsehair plume is for Musician, I presume. It came with the helmet, as well as the bullion Prussian feldzeichen. Would an officer musician have had a red buffalo or red yak colored plume instead of a simple horsehair plume?

The first photo shows the Tschapka alongside a Wartime Ersatz 2nd Guard Ulan Officer tschapka I acquired back in September of 2013. That one has a tin removable mortarboard and a fiber body.

On the pickelhaubes dot com forum, member Glenn wrote the following: "If the plume is original to the helmet, I am wondering if it is the Tschapka of the Musikmeister who has slightly "upgraded" his own private purchase helmet. According to the 1912 regulations, the Musikmeister was for all intents and purposes dressed in commissioned officer quality uniform albeit, he should have still worn the helmet of a Feldwebel/Wachtmeister."

Best Regards,

Alan

[ww1czechlegion]

Here's a closeup photo of the Order of the Black Eagle Guard Star.