Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

French Republic Officer’s Shako 1st Light Infantry, of bell top shape, the body being of black cloth on buckram is 23.5 cm in height, the base being 17.5 cm and the crown 26 cm, the crown of slightly sunken black leather, the top of the shako with a 4 cm band of black velvet (faded), the base of the body with a 2.8 cm black leather bracing band, the front peak of leather with silver plate trimming, the shako plate comprises a large coiled bugle horn in silver plate with a metal figure ‘1’ within the coil, chin scales are of plated copper mounted on leather and velvet, the supports are circular and feature coiled bugle horns, the cockade of light weight die stamped metal in red, white and blue, the central ornament of a cockerel, the original plume consists of a green wool ball surmounted by red and white silk fringe. Internally the majority of the soft leather sweat band remains though perished and detached, the leather crown has one or two age splits, the cloth body has lost the majority of the original nap and is worn through to the stiffening mainly around the metal cockade, the lower bracing band lacks a small section at the rear and the large bugle horn frontal plate has a split just about the mouthpiece, the chin scales are buckled but not split £600-800