December 10-13, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024
A 37 1/2 inch-long belt of black morocco-finish leather, 1 7/8 inches wide and with edge embroidery of silver, 1 7/8 inch-wide and with a hanging frog of black, similarly edge-trimmed in silver embroidery. It is mounted with a silvered-copper plate 2 inches wide by 2 7/8 inches long. Both the plate and the belt are almost certainly of French manufacture and closely mirror ones used by officers of the First Empire, although with the Imperial eagle replaced by an American spread-wing eagle with Federal shield surmounted by 12 stars. Collectors have long called this a militia plate of the 1820-40 period and while it may have had such use that late, the form and motifs clearly date it to the 1810s. In fact, if the belt was of white leather, it would be completely in accordance of what was prescribed for U.S. Infantry officers in the 1813 regulations. PROVENANCE: Acquired from Don Troiani in 2023. CONDITION: Very good, some edge and surface wear to the leather and nearly all of the silvering worn off the copper on the plate.