Imperial Russia Imperial Russian Shoulder board collection

[Sajkaca]

[Sajkaca]

Imperial Navy

[Sajkaca]

Captain of the 54 IR Minski from my collection. Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand was the honorary chief of the regiment. Russian army didn't revoke honorary chiefs, monarchs from the enemy armies in the WW1 (like Franz Ferdinand, Friedrich Wilchelm etc.), and was unique for that reason (as many others as well).

[Sajkaca]

85i Pehotni Viborgski Vilgeljma II Polk, Colonel overcoat style

[Sajkaca]

General, ADC to the Tsar Alexander II, mid 19 century. Beautiful pair was recently on the auction, but the reserve price was........

[Claudius]

General, ADC to the Tsar Alexander II, mid 19 century. Beautiful pair was recently on the auction, but the reserve price was........

....but the reserve price was...? I'm sure it was high.

[Sajkaca]

absolutely insane, so these remained unsold :)

[Sajkaca]

Grenadirski Sanktperburgski Rgt. Fridriha-Vilgelma III, 19th century pattern

[Sajkaca]

Yet another from my collection. Very simple praporschik at the first glance, but very scarce arms of service, fortress infantry with red-orange facings.

[Russian lancer]

Yet another from my collection. Very simple praporschik at the first glance, but very scarce arms of service, fortress infantry with red-orange facings.

Your are not correct with ID of this piece. First, there were no fortress infantry regiments in the Russian Army after 1910-1911, while this board looks to be typical for the WWI period (and there was no rank of ensign in the peace-time army). Second, fortress infantry regiments had regimental abbreviations on their boards. Third their facing fabric was brown, not raspberry. Raspberry was a facing color for Rifle regiments, so here we have a rifles ensign of the WWI period. BTW, it's quite common for WWI boards when they have color of rank stripes different from facing fabric, while it must have been identical. Another unfortunate simplification which became widespread with WWI - many officers started to wear boards without regimental abbreviations, while during the peace time it could be recognized as violation of army uniform rules.

[Sajkaca]

Your are not correct with ID of this piece. First, there were no fortress infantry regiments in the Russian Army after 1910-1911, while this board looks to be typical for the WWI period (and there was no rank of ensign in the peace-time army). Second, fortress infantry regiments had regimental abbreviations on their boards. Third their facing fabric was brown, not raspberry. Raspberry was a facing color for Rifle regiments, so here we have a rifles ensign of the WWI period. BTW, it's quite common for WWI boards when they have color of rank stripes different from facing fabric, while it must have been identical. Another unfortunate simplification which became widespread with WWI - many officers started to wear boards without regimental abbreviations, while during the peace time it could be recognized as violation of army uniform rules.

Facings are not raspberry at all, although due to flash, the shade is not exactly as in nature. It is rather brownish, but according to the official description it is red-orange. Source book "Russkaia Armia 1917-1920", SPB 1991, page 7, Cveta: Krasno-oranzevie, casti krepnostnoi pehoti.....By the way comfirmed by my friend an international authority on Imperial Russian uniforms, whose opinion I do not intend to question.

Also, this one has absolutely same colour of the outer facing and inside piping. Nothing to do with riffles, I have pogoni of riffles and I know what I am talking.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Sajkaca

[Russian lancer]

I'm not criticizing your friend, but I woun't use the source book that you have mentioned as a primary basis for identification. Like other materials on the topic of the Russian Imperial Army published in Russia right after the fall of soviet regime, it contains very fragmentary information, with a number of mistakes, with very poor quality of illustrations. I have this book, but can't find it right now, as I didn't used if for years - it was almost useless to me. For example, if the book covers the period of 1917-1920, why there are many illustrations of pre-1914 uniform pieces? Again, I would like to put your attention to the fact that shoulder-board is a war-time piece, while last fortress units were disbanded during the army reformation of 1910-1911; soldiers and officers of these units were used in formation of new infantry and rifles regiments.

[Russian lancer]

here I have find a link to few pages of the book in www: http://vedsimvol.mybb.ru/viewtopic.php?id=213

[Sajkaca]

This is definitely the war piece, as it was baught in Belgrade. You probably know that lots of officers came to Kingdom of Yugoslavia in early 1920s after the fall of Crimea and was not particularly the destination before that (like Paris for instance). On the other hand, the colour is much different to the raspberry for riffles. Atribution was given by Gerard Gorokhoff as he hold it in his hands.... Maybe this weekend I will try to make another photo on the daylight so you can se the brown colour all over it, and maybe a comparisson with a pogon of the riffle regiment to notice the obvious difference.

[Sajkaca]

Lt. Colonel of the General Staff

[Sajkaca]

General Maior of the General Staff

[Sajkaca]

Currently on the auction of the serious UK based auction house, unfortunately, the Colonel is fake.

[Sajkaca]

a very scarce pogon with two special badges, of the aeronautic unit (winged anchor), and of the pilot, from the Belgrade Military Museum collection

Edited November 14, 2012 by Sajkaca

[Sajkaca]

private, volunteer, 5th immortal hussars, Alexandriisky

[Sajkaca]

Navy, Kapitan 2 ranga

[Sajkaca]

couple of very nice lots were on the auction at Christies last November. Photo enclosed and link below

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-group-of-shoulder-boards-5630450-details.aspx?pos=7&intObjectID=5630450&sid=&page=21

[Claudius]

couple of very nice lots were on the auction at Christies last November. Photo enclosed and link below

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-group-of-shoulder-boards-5630450-details.aspx?pos=7&intObjectID=5630450&sid=&page=21

Pogoni.jpg

Great looking...

Edited February 1, 2013 by Claudius

[Sajkaca]

and equally great pricing

[Chip]

Maybe Regal Uniforma Collector knows where some of these units were posted. I would love to know where "299" was operating. I have cause to believe it was somewhere along the A-H front.

I can't give you an order of battle for this regiment, but I can tell you that it was the Dubnenski Regiment, formed from the 151.Inf.Rgt. and part of the 75th Division and was raised in Kartus-Beresa.This information dates from the beginning of 1917.

Chip

[Markgraf]

An interesting one...