Hello, remember the Shako I found in a desperate condition some months ago? This is a 1874 Model shako used at Saint Cyr (the Equivalent of Westpoint ) where many French officers went and still go. The Gaulle studied there in the 1930s. The Model I have is the very first and rarest one with brass front shield (instead of the grenade adopted in the 20th century) . The cloth was 50% moth eaten and the carboard shaped shako almost enterely rag tattered. Everything else is intact and complete, including the leather which I reviced and the brass elements which I cleaned. Evne the leathe rinsignia holder leathe rpin was included. The aerators were also found . Only the chinstrap is missing. The cocarde still has its original tricomor paint. So to make things short I needed some original 19th cloth from a pice of uniform and some old paper that could be wrapped until it is thick enoug to replac ethe carboard. Of course this paper would also be 19th century paper. The cloth I was given by a friend who took this from what was left of destroyed uniform. The paper came from the back of an old painting . The restoration will take weeks if not more, but here is my progression : enjoy. step one : cleaning and saving what can be saved.
step two : getting 19th cloth step three: getting paper in shape. step four: assembling accessoiries to see if everything fits right. step five: disassembling elements before fixing the cloth step six: fixing the cloth To be followed in a few weeks, I need some time to do things properly. The rim will be sewed properly and you won't see the rough cut. The cocarde will be postionned properly too, this is just a trial.
I´m curios to see more of it! I like the colourful uniforms from the earlier ages. Not good for the soldiers but great to see!
Good looking dresses. Grandpa wore a Tschakko too during his time at the Dresdner kasernierten Bereitschaftspolizei. View attachment 15221
I love that picture. Frech shakos are still worn at parades and ceremonies by Military schools and the Republican Guard, but that's about it.
It will be interesting to see the completed restoration....good luck with it, it looks time consuming!
Oh, yes it is, I'm afraid, I will catch up after Christmas with it. I want it to be perfect with original material only and restored the way it was done at the time.
I'm not sure about skako's but period hats used to use mercury as part of thier finish. Thus the term "mad as a hatter". PLS don't take your desire for perfection to far in that direction.
Don't worry, I won't use any dodgy materials. I didn't know about the mercury, as to the mad thing, you could be right: hats off .