British Red Officers Tunic 1870-1888 ?

[KatManDude]

hello all apologies for the long winded post....for review, comment and assistance....I know this is from a period a little earlier than normal but I think there are folks here that can help me with some questions regarding this tunic that I just received....I have been diving into British stuff focusing on the Victorian period...this tunic came up and I could not pass on the price, it does have some condition issues but not too bad for something ~ 140 years old

advertised as...

* Colonels tunic for Bombay Staff Officer - I've seen this described as from 1870 but also as an "1888 pattern" tunic

observations
* handmade
* upper silk lining - different material lining below the belt
* missing one device from one of the shoulder straps

my questions
* which pattern tunic is this ?
* any way to clean the bullion thread ?
* are the loops on the lower left breast for a star ?....if so, what would be the usual thing there ?
* I intend to add a belt - would it be a slade-wallace valise type or a fancy brocade sword belt for this type of uniform ?...also has one belt hook on the left side

that's a lot of questions but I am having trouble finding solid info on the internet...any tips for sites of books are welcome....thanks for looking

front-back-side




inside


reinforced inner area where belt sits - all hand sewn



award loops - what's goes on the lower left breast ?


buttons



cuff


collar


shoulder straps

[Jerry B]

bearing in mind it is British Indian and might not follow changes/conventions as quickly as in the UK, this was replaced by the 1898 pattern which has a more elaborate tail, I have your pattern as 1881, so that helps not a lot....as far as cleaning the bullion, I have not heard of an easy way to do it, I guess gentle and slow cleaning with some sort of cleaning product and a cotton bud would be the way a specialist cloth conservator would do it, with mine I have left them as is. I assume an internet search would answer your lower award question, it is not something I have ever needed to look so don't know the answer without searching for it. as regards the belt, certainly slade wallace type in the field, no idea on what order of dress the brocade is worn with.

this site is a mine of useful information, but it is a work in progress and new stuff gets added all the time and I think he concentrated on cavalry and yeomanry at first. It does have lots of old artwork that is usually pretty accurate

[Jerry B]

this fb group is very good The British Army & Navy, 1888-1914.

[KatManDude]

Jerry....thanks for the feedback!...I did manage to find a reference to the shoulder/cuff insiginia which placed it at 1881+ as well....I'm pretty happy with the piece, the red offsets well amongst everything else...it seems this fellow had a 5-6 pc medal bar on the tunic as well...you can see the contact marks from the pin and the medals on the tunic, won't be able to afford that period replacement!...regards, David

[Jerry B]

it would be good to remove the stains from transfer from the tarnished bullion on the cuffs.