2nd Guard Ulan Officer Tschapka with Musician Plume

ww1czechlegion

ww1czechlegion

Well-known member
Hello,

I recently acquired this Tschapka from a friend who purchased it on an auction in the New England states area several months ago. The auction had a couple of WW1 uniforms on the sale, and a Line Kurassier Officer helmet in relic condition as well, apparently all from a family in the area of the auction house.

The piece is in uncleaned condtion, and I'm debating whether or not to have some restoration work done on it by the master of restoration if he would like to do the work. Specifically re-stitching the calfskin liner back onto the shell of the Tschapka, and maybe repairing the black finish on the rear corner of the mortar board. Maybe I should simply leave it as it is, and gently re-shape the rear of the helmet which will take some time and patience in itself.

A couple of nice surprises were made after I acquired it and was poking around looking inside: I found the Officer Kokarde affixed with the facing or exterior side placed inside the helmet shell underneath the liner (which discolored the silver ring on the kokarde), affixed by the split brads of the rosette. Apparently someone had taken the rosette apart years ago, and why they placed the kokarde inside the helmet I have no idea. I also found the small brass nut and tin washer for the viewer's left side of the front plate post. The nut and washer had rattled around inside the sweatband when I picked the helmet up before starting to photograph. It's a miracle the nut and washer didn't fall out at the auction house, or in the parking lot where I met my friend and decided to purchase the tshapka, as they would most likely have been lost forever if they had fallen out.

The Red Horsehair plume is for Musician, I presume. It came with the helmet, as well as the bullion Prussian feldzeichen. Would an officer musician have had a red buffalo or red yak colored plume instead of a simple horsehair plume?

The first photo shows the Tschapka alongside a Wartime Ersatz 2nd Guard Ulan Officer tschapka I acquired back in September of 2013. That one has a tin removable mortarboard and a fiber body.

Best Regards,

Alan





























 
If the plume is original to the helmet, I am wondering if it is the Tschapka of the Musikmeister who has slightly "upgraded" his own private purchase helmet. According to the 1912 regulations, the Musikmeister was for all intents and purposes dressed in commissioned officer quality uniform albeit, he should have still worn the helmet of a Feldwebel/Wachtmeister.

Regards
Glenn
 
Thanks for your very nice comments gentlemen, I appreciate it! :D

By Member Glennj
If the plume is original to the helmet, I am wondering if it is the Tschapka of the Musikmeister who has slightly "upgraded" his own private purchase helmet. According to the 1912 regulations, the Musikmeister was for all intents and purposes dressed in commissioned officer quality uniform albeit, he should have still worn the helmet of a Feldwebel/Wachtmeister.
Click to expand...

Thanks Glenn! That's what I was hoping to hear.

Yes, the Red Musician's Plume came with the helmet, along with the Prussian Officer's Feldzeichen. The auction also had a Prussian officer's Line Kurassier Regiment helmet shell in need of restoration, and a couple of heavily mothed US uniforms. The auctioneer said they all came from a family in the New England area, near where the auction house resides.

I haven't seen a name inside the helmet shell at this point of time. I'm trying to be very careful with the liner, as the calfskin sweatband is not torn, and the silk lining is in very nice condition. The helmet body is mis-shaped in the rear and stiff, and will take some very patient and careful blocking over a long period of time to get it back into proper shape. The calfskin liner is loose/no longer stitched in place, starting from the ends of both sides of the visor, going all the way around the back and then back to the visor. It would take a whole lot of patience and time for a master restorer to stitch it back into place. Fortunately the liner is not damaged, just no longer stitched in place except underneath where the visor attaches.

Best Regards,

Alan
 
Exquisite piece Alan! :thumb up:

For me, I would have the liner re-stitched but leave the mortar board as-is. The slight wear/damage speaks to me of the age of the piece.
 
Both helmets appear to be correct
as I see them .
I do have a question of interest
The Garde star on the helmet on the right
seems to be larger than the star on the left .
I was always taught that the Uhlan Garde stars
were always to be smaller ones .
Does anyone have any thoughts on that question ?
Thanks
Steve
 
KAGGR#1 said:
Both helmets appear to be correct
as I see them .
I do have a question of interest
The Garde star on the helmet on the right
seems to be larger than the star on the left .
I was always taught that the Uhlan Garde stars
were always to be smaller ones .
Does anyone have any thoughts on that question ?
Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...

With all of the variations of private purchase items, I would imagine there could be some who purchased larger stars, or those with more relief (height), detail, etc.

:D Ron
 
Well Alan....you never cease to amaze me with "the finds" that you come up with...that is a beautiful piece, they both are!! The officer tschapka and OR's obviously, are a rare and a very different beast, from the usual members of the hauben tribe. The liner edging is especially unique but there are ways of solving that....duh I think I can figure it out? You have my email, so if you perhaps decide, to proceed then contact me and we can discuss restoration. I very much appreciate your comments regarding my skills, high praise from a museum curator and I thank you for it. Again, you know, that I will be at the SOS where we met last year so, I could proceed from there. I have only acquired an expertise/reputation, by fellow collectors trusting in me, to figure out how to solve the problems caused by time and abuse. To be truthful guys, many times I look at these pieces and the shape that they are in and think.....good Lord, why did I take on this restoration ?? But the truth is, gentlemen...I love a challenge.....so bring them on! :D. I'm just a haube surgeon in the end, :thumb up: to one of our top members who does deal in human life on a daily basis.
 
Thanks everyone for your very nice comments, I appreciate it!

KAGGR#1 wrote:
Both helmets appear to be correct
as I see them .
I do have a question of interest
The Garde star on the helmet on the right
seems to be larger than the star on the left .
I was always taught that the Uhlan Garde stars
were always to be smaller ones .
Does anyone have any thoughts on that question ?
Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...

Here's a link to the Wartime Ersatz 2nd Guard Ulan Officer Tschapka that is shown in the 1st photo: http://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8425&hilit=guard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Excellent observation Steve, I appreciate it. Yes, the Guard star is much bigger, and also flatter on the wartime ersatz ulan helmet. At first I was worried about it, but also know that it came from a collection that acquired the ersatz tschapka back in 1957 or 1959 here in Iowa. What worried me more when I bought it was the enlisted man's pattern plain white horsehair plume that came with it. Not sure why an officer tschapka would have an enlisted man's pattern white horsehair plume with it, instead of the black/white buffalo hair plume as would be correct for it.

Former short-term forum member "drewlarge" claimed the guard star was from a cartridge box flap. I got sarcastic with him, and told him I "put the whole thing together", which I did not.

Approximately 3 or 4 years ago I saw one of these ersatz models like mine that was sold on eBay by John Cate, who first told me in the early 1980's at an old Badger Military Collector Show in Madison, WI, that he had a 2nd Guard Ulan Officer helmet. His example had a similar odd looking guard star on it like mine, as I recall. His helmet fittings were all gilded brass, and not wartime zinc like on my helmet which has the zinc chinscales and the zinc visor trim piece. I wish that I had saved a copy of the photos of his old helmet from eBay, but unfortunately I did not. I've always wondered who ended up with the winning bid on his helmet. He had the storage case for it, and the officer cap lines and feldzeichen as I recall.

Best Regards,

Alan
 
ww1czechlegion said:
// What worried me more when I bought it was the enlisted man's pattern plain white horsehair plume that came with it. Not sure why an officer tschapka would have an enlisted man's pattern white horsehair plume with it, instead of the black/white buffalo hair plume as would be correct for it. //
Click to expand...

Here's a possible explanation, quite often several helmets uniforms etc. will come from an estate which means they're all family items. So what they end up with is a trunk or box full of items from several individuals. Same family, but different ranks, different units. And when it comes to the sale of these items quite often the parts are just put together, so that could explain an officer's Tschapka with a Mannschaften parade hair bush, as the person who put the parts together decades later had no idea what went with what.
 
Alan ;
Nice reply
Many thanks
I tend to try and ask questions ; not make statement
when any collector starts to think they know it
most times they don't .

also Tony another good point as always

Alan ;
are you able to supply name of late collector in Iowa ?
I thought that I knew a lot of the old time collectors
but no one from Iowa as I remember .
I think these old contact stories are also as good as the helmet stories .

I just got back from a Civil War show at Franklin , Tn.
The last helmet I bought was in Dec. 2015 at that same show.
A marked Prussian artillery helmet that started out as a Kammer issue
Baden artillery .
This year , yesterday I saw another helmet . Plain Prussian e m
but when I picked it up to look it over , I saw it was also a Kammer
issue helmet ; to a Train unit . So I bought it .
The owner said it came from an estate in Ind.
Only collector ( besides the Sanders ) I knew there was Allan Williams .
I could not wonder if it had been Allan's helmet .

Steve
 
Tony without Kaiser wrote:
Here's a possible explanation, quite often several helmets uniforms etc. will come from an estate which means they're all family items. So what they end up with is a trunk or box full of items from several individuals. Same family, but different ranks, different units. And when it comes to the sale of these items quite often the parts are just put together, so that could explain an officer's Tschapka with a Mannschaften parade hair bush, as the person who put the parts together decades later had no idea what went with what.
Click to expand...

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your excellent explanation. I understand and agree with it.

KAGGR#1 wrote:
Alan ;
are you able to supply name of late collector in Iowa ?
I thought that I knew a lot of the old time collectors
but no one from Iowa as I remember .
I think these old contact stories are also as good as the helmet stories .
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

The IA collector I acquired the Ersatz Tschapka from is still alive. I visited with him back in October at a small military collector show here in IA. His father was a collector as well (and is deceased), and the father apparently acquired it from a former General of the Iowa National Guard back in 1957 or 1959. Apparently the General had been a collector as well, and he sold several things to this man's father at that time period. No other Ulan Tschapka's, but there are a couple other helmets I'd like to acquire from this collector that had also been in that old collection.

Best Regards,

Alan
 
Thanks
I would not release the name until you get
everything that you are after .
I did not mean to be nosy .
I thought your dealing were over .
I am trying to find out what happened to
my collector friend Alan Williams who lived in Indy .

Steve
 
grussen- new member here - but collector for decades..- look at Helmut Weitze- type in ulan tschapka and see 2 Garde Ulan in mint condition much like yours with the metal removable top and larger star. hope this helps . I agree usually the
garde Ulan stars are smaller but Apparently not always......

Regards---- from Alte Helm Zimmer - Randolpho
 
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