Cap (fusilier) of the officer of the 4th battalion of the Life Guards of the Pavlovsky Regiment

An original and extremely rare officer's headdress, made at the factory of P. A. Fokin, in perfect collectible condition.

At the end of the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The Pavlovsky Regiment of the Life Guards was made up of three battalions, and each battalion had a rifle company. Rifle companies were armed with the then novelty-muzzle-loading rifles of the 1856 model, and according to the charter, their main task was not bayonet, but fire combat. After a series of reorganizations, the rifle companies were consolidated into a battalion. So that the commander could distinguish the riflemen from the line infantry at a great distance, on September 8, 1857, the rifle companies of the Life Guards of the Pavlovsky Regiment were assigned a new headdress – a cap of a special pattern.

Its design dates back to the so-called fusilier caps of the late XVIII – early XIX centuries. Therefore, in everyday life, especially in the early twentieth century, such hats were often called "fusilier". Externally, the new cap differed from the traditional grenadier caps of the Pavlovsky Regiment by a smaller 10% height – 27 cm against almost 30 cm in the grenadier caps. Unlike the grenadiers, who were assembled on a frame of rods (at the lower ranks) or whalebone (for officers), the basis of the fusilier was a solid felt cap, covered with cloth, with a flat top. The front of the cap was attached to a brass headpiece of reduced size, which was covered with gold for the officers. The colors of the cap (red background, white band), as well as the trim and fittings (false grenadas on the band, a special pattern of braid trim, scales and a cockade in the form of a corrugated rosette) were the same as in the linear companies. The design of the coat of arms on the forehead was no different from the grenadiers. At the top, with a slight slope, a pompom was inserted, its appearance reminiscent of the times of Emperor Paul I. The officer's pom-pom was mounted on a nickel-plated steel wire made of silver matte and shiny threads, with a sequined end and a core in the form of a moire St. George ribbon. A special silver plate with the monogram of the reigning emperor was attached to the end of the pompom. Since 1874, the officers had the emblem of the Russian Guard – the silver star of the Order of St. Andrew with an enamel center-placed on the forehead of the coat of arms.

In 1878, the regiment was awarded a silver insignia with the inscription " For Mountain Dubnyak October 12, 1877", attached above the star. After the tactics of all infantry were unified in the 1880s, the fusiliers of the 1857 model remained in the 4th battalion of the Life Guards of the Pavlovsky Regiment in memory of the fact that this battalion had previously been a rifle, and remained as a ceremonial headdress until 1917. The only difference between the caps of different eras was the monogram of the emperors on the upper overlay. Judging by the monogram, this cap was used in 1894-1917. The conclusion about its rarity can be made based on the fact that in the states of the 1890s-1910s, no more than 20 officers could serve in the battalion at the same time. A beautiful rare item in excellent collectible condition.