David Peace

Hello Gentlemen, I haven't had the opportunity to visit this forum recently, but I am glad to see that you, Holmes, have got a positive identification of your cuirass from the authors of the Imperial German Cavalry book. I will resist the temptation to make a quip about detective work!! I like the Cavalry book, but like all reference books it cannot go into the sort of detail some of us would like, and there will always be questions posed. I suppose that in order to appeal to a wide readership and therefore be both affordable and commercially viable it covers a very large subject in a single, albeit hefty, volume. It has some beautiful photos, such as the cuirassier helmet damaged by a French sabre cut during the Franco Prussian War, and very informative text. It is certainly better than anything I else have found on the subject. If only Moritz Ruhl publishing could have included photographs instead of drawings! In terms of cleaning, I have been carefully polishing a 1867 cuirassier ORs helmet that had been painted pale green. Once the paint was removed with a dilute solution of stripper I set to work with very fine wire wool and 3-in-1 oil. This produced a reasonable finish, which I have since improved with a cloth duster and chrome polish. I haven't quite finished the work on my helmet or cuirass, but will post some pictures in due course. Kind regards to all who are following this and thanks to Holmes for starting a very interesting topic.

Good Afternoon Trooper D, (and anyone else looking in) Thank you for your kind response. It is always a pleasure to share knowledge. Your suggestion was entirely reasonable as the Imperial German Army had so many ways of indicating rank that I wonder how they decided who should salute who! I have been scouring the internet and any published source for information about cuirasses because I received an ORs cuirass for Christmas. Sadly the shoulder scales have been over cleaned and one of the key plates at the front has been damaged. I am hoping to get the damaged piece professionally restored. I will try to post some pictures when it has been done. In the meantime best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Gentlemen, The cuirass sold by Bonhams was an officers' cuirass of the 6th Regiment. This regiment wore a Tombac plated helmet and cuirass. Tombac is an alloy similar to brass which is gold coloured when it is polished. Officers of the other cuirassier regiments wore polished steel cuirasses. None of the reference sources I have seen so far mention a variation for NCOs. Helmets to the 6th Cuirassiers are invariably higher priced than those of the other regiments, except for the Guard, Guard Cuirassier and Regiments 1 & 2 which had their own distinctive helmets. Helmut Weitze in Hamburg sometimes has cuirasses and his website might give you an idea of the value of this piece.

Good Evening As a new member I have just discovered this post from earlier this year. I hope I can help with an identification of this interesting cuirass. Judging from the two main reference sources I have for information on the Imperial German Cavalry (cited below) I think it is an officers' cuirass as worn by Regiments 3, 4, 5, 7 & 8. I do not think it is a Garde du Corps cuirass as the two black lacquered versions presented to the GdC in 1814 and in 1897 did not have the broad decorative bands around the edges of the breast and back plates, and the GdC officers had chains on the shoulder pieces, whereas the regiments mentioned above had brass scales as in your photos. Regiments 1 and 2 had a gorget on the breast plate, and regiment 6 had a 'Tombac' plated cuirass which was gold coloured. Paul Pietsche in Die Formations und Uniformierungs-Geschichte des Preussischen Heeres 1808-1914 Band 2 Kavallerie published by Gerhard Schulz, Hamburg, 1966, illustrates a similar cuirass in sketch 3, plate 97, page 59. This also includes sketches 4 and 6 which show the details of the lions heads on the rear part of the hinge and the leaf decoration on the end pieces of the shoulder straps that key onto the breast plate. Messrs Ulrich Herr and Jens Nguyen in The German Cavalry from 1871 to 1914, published by Verlag Militaria, Vienna, 2006, illustrate and describe a cuirass exactly like the one in your photos on a double page spread on pages 274 and 275. The black paint inside the cuirass is normal, as is the black paint usually found inside cuirassier helmets. As to value, I would expect to pay very much more than £250 if this cuirass were for sale!