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CIVIL WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS – RARE MATCHING PAIRS
IN VERY GOOD TO EXCELLENT CONDITION:
These are very
desirable, and quite rare, matched pairs of Officer's Pattern 1851 Shoulder Straps. Introduced before the Civil
War, this same pattern was worn by officers on
their garrison and field uniforms through the end of the
19th Century, in the halls of the War Department and the
parade fields of the frontier forts alike, and on the
battlefields of Gettysburg, the Little Big Horn, and on
San Juan Hill.
Pattern
1851 Officer Shoulder Straps are more often found as single pieces that were
separated through the years. Whether found as
singles or pairs, more often than not they are
mismatched and show considerable wear and aging.
These are
particularly nice matched pairs, together since the
officers wore them, which would display very well on their own, or would be a
valuable upgrade for a uniform coat lacking the
insignia.
I have the following sets
available and each is described below with accompanying
photographs.
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No. 1
INDIAN WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS FOR THE RANK OF CAPTAIN OF INFANTRY – RARE MATCHING PAIR
IN EXCELLENT CONDITION: Measuring
4” long and 1 5/8” wide, these
straps have survived as a matched pair in excellent
condition. Each strap bears the two fully intact
pairs of silver bars signifying the rank, on a sky blue
wool field
indicating the officer served in the infantry, likely a
company commander.
This
set can be dated quite accurately due to the background
color and the color of the rank insignia. The
infantry used sky blue from before the Civil War until
it was changed to white in 1888. The color of the
bullion used to signify the rank of captain was gold
until 1882 when silver bullion was introduced for both
the oak leaves used to identify a lieutenant colonel and
the bars for a captain. The presence of the sky
blue background and the silver captain's bars date this
set as having been used between 1882 and 1888.
Surrounding the field is a very
pronounced border of 3/8” wide embroidered high quality
gold bullion. These borders have some tarnish, but still
retain much of the original gilt, with no tears or wear
points, and the embroidery is still firmly attached to
the base. Along the inside and outside edges of the
embroidered bullion, and along each outer edge of the
captain bars, is a fine border of jaceron, the
thin bullion bead characteristic to well made shoulder
straps. The jaceron is fully intact, with no
breaks or missing sections.
These straps show stitching marks on the
underside, an obvious sign of having
once been on a uniform coat, but as they show little, if
any, signs of wear, this set was on a uniform coat he
wore on special occasions. The sky blue wool fields
on both straps is fully intact, showing no wear and
retaining a bright clear color. The straps are full form and lay flat
with none of the curling often found in these old
straps. The blue wool which edges the straps and
forms the backing is
intact with no wear or holes.
Matched pairs of officer shoulder straps in condition
such as these seldom are available on the market and
this particularly nice set would be impossible to
upgrade.
(0405) $600
 
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No. 2
CIVIL WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS FOR THE RANK OF FIRST LIEUTENANT OF CAVALRY – RARE MATCHING PAIR
IN VERY GOOD CONDITION: Measuring
3 7/8” long and 1 ¼”
wide, these
straps have survived as a matched pair in very nice
condition. Each strap bears the two fully intact
single gold bars signifying the rank, on a yellow
velvet field
indicating the officer served in the cavalry, likely a
company commander or executive officer.
Surrounding the field is a pronounced border of
¼” wide embroidered high quality
gold bullion. These borders are tarnished, but still
retain some of the original gilt, with no tears or wear
points, and the embroidery is still firmly attached to
the base. Along the inside and outside edges of the
embroidered bullion, and along each outer edge of the
lieutenant bars, is a fine border of jaceron, the
thin bullion bead characteristic to well made shoulder
straps. The jaceron is fully present, with a
couple of minor breaks along the outer edge where it was
exposed to the most wear, but none of the jaceron is
missing.
These straps show obvious signs of having
once been on a uniform coat, and subject to regular
wear, suggesting the Lieutenant wore this pair on his
regular duty uniform in garrison and in the field, and
not on a dress uniform coat worn only on special
occasions. The yellow velvet fields
on both straps is fully intact, showing only the
lightest wear in the center sections where the straps
crested the arch of the officer's shoulder. The
wear is limited to the nap of the velvet, and the base
cloth is still intact with no tears or holes. The
velvet in the protected areas closer to the bullion bars
retains the nap and the full color. The straps are
full form and lay flat with none of the curling often
found in these old straps. These straps are backed
in thin black enameled cloth which has some minor wear
on one of the straps, the other straps backing is in
very good condition. This backing may suggest that
this pair pre-dates the Civil War as the earlier straps
were often backed with thin black leather or this black
enameled cloth.
Matched pairs of cavalry officer shoulder straps
available on the market are especially notable due to
the fewer number officers who served in that branch and
the popularity of cavalry officer accoutrements and
insignia. This
is a particularly nice set.
SOLD
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No. 3
CIVIL WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS FOR THE RANK OF CAPTAIN OF CAVALRY – RARE MATCHING PAIR
IN VERY GOOD CONDITION: Measuring 4 ½” long and 1 ¾” wide, these
straps have survived as a matched pair in very nice
condition. Each strap bears the two fully intact
pairs of gold bars signifying the rank, on a yellow
velvet field
indicating the officer served in the cavalry, likely a
company commander.
Surrounding the field is a very
pronounced border of 3/8” wide embroidered high quality
gold bullion. These borders are tarnished, but still
retain some of the original gilt, with no tears or wear
points, and the embroidery is still firmly attached to
the base. Along the inside and outside edges of the
embroidered bullion, and along each outer edge of the
captain bars, is a fine border of jaceron, the
thin bullion bead characteristic to well made shoulder
straps. The jaceron is fully intact, with the
exception of the short section along the edge of one end
on one of the straps.
These straps show obvious signs of having
once been on a uniform coat, and subject to regular
wear, suggesting the Captain wore this pair on his
regular duty uniform in garrison and in the field, and
not on a dress uniform coat worn only on special
occasions. The yellow velvet fields
on both straps is fully intact, but show wear in the
center sections where the straps crested the arch of the
officer's shoulder. The wear is limited to the nap
of the velvet, and the base cloth is still intact with
no tears or holes. The velvet in the protected
areas closer to the bullion bars retains the nap and the
full color. The straps are full form and lay flat
with none of the curling often found in these old
straps. The blue wool which edges the straps is
intact with very little wear limited to one end of one
strap which in not noticeable when displayed. The
balance of the blue wool edging is
fully intact around the edges and on the section that
folds under the strap, fully stitched to the white
cotton base material.
Matched pairs of cavalry officer shoulder straps
available on the market are especially notable due to
the fewer number officers who served in that branch and
the popularity of cavalry officer accoutrements and
insignia. This
is a particularly nice set.
SOLD |
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No. 4
CIVIL WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS FOR THE RANK OF SECOND LIEUTENANT ASSIGNED TO A
STAFF – RARE MATCHING PAIR
IN EXCELLENT CONDITION: Measuring
3 7/8” long and 1 ½”
wide, these
straps have survived as a matched pair in excellent
condition. Each strap features a dark blue field
without any insignia of rank,
indicating the officer was a second lieutenant who served
on a general staff or in one of the staff corps.
Surrounding the field is a very
pronounced border of 3/8” wide embroidered high quality
gold bullion. These borders have very little tarnish,
and still
retain much of the original gilt, with no tears or wear
points, and the embroidery is still firmly attached to
the base. Along the inside and outside edges of the
embroidered bullion is a fine border of jaceron, the
thin bullion bead characteristic to well made shoulder
straps. The jaceron is fully intact, with no
breaks and no missing sections.
These straps show stitching marks on the
underside, an obvious sign of having
once been on a uniform coat, but as they show little, if
any, signs of wear, this set was on a uniform coat he
wore on special occasions, or perhaps he was promoted to
first lieutenant before he had a chance to put much wear
on this set. The dark blue fields
on both straps is fully intact, showing no wear and
retaining a bright clear color. The straps are full form and lay flat
with none of the curling often found in these old
straps. The blue wool which edges the straps and
forms the backing is
intact with no wear or holes.
While a staff second lieutenant's shoulder straps might
not create the exciting mental images as those worn by a
cavalry or infantry officer, these staff officers
performed critically important functions such as
Ordnance and Engineers.
In any case, matched pairs of officer shoulder straps in
this excellent condition are seldom available on the
market and this particularly nice set would be
impossible to upgrade.
(0407) $450 |
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No. 5
CIVIL WAR PATTERN OF 1851 SHOULDER
STRAPS FOR THE RANK OF COLONEL ASSIGNED TO A
STAFF – RARE MATCHING PAIR
IN EXCELLENT CONDITION: Measuring
4” long and 1 ½”
wide, these
straps have survived as a matched pair in excellent
condition. Each strap features a dark blue field
with embroidered silver bullion eagle,
indicating the officer was a colonel who served
on a general staff or in one of the staff corps.
Surrounding the field is a very
pronounced border of 3/8” wide embroidered high quality
gold bullion. These borders have very little tarnish,
and still
retain much of the original gilt, with no tears or wear
points, and the embroidery is still firmly attached to
the base. Along the inside and outside edges of the
embroidered bullion is a fine border of jaceron, the
thin bullion bead characteristic to well made shoulder
straps. The jaceron is fully intact, with no
breaks and no missing sections.
These straps show stitching marks on the
underside, an obvious sign of having
once been on a uniform coat, but as they show little, if
any, signs of wear, perhaps this set was on a uniform coat
that he only
wore on special occasions. The dark blue wool fields
on both straps is fully intact, showing no wear and
retaining a bright clear color. The straps are full form and
have the gentle arc formed from having been sewn to the
shoulders of the uniform coat. The blue cotton
cloth which edges the straps and
forms the backing is
intact with no wear or holes.
While a staff colonel's shoulder straps might
not create the exciting mental images as those worn by a
cavalry or infantry officer, these staff officers
performed critically important functions such as
Ordnance and Engineers, and many of the department
commanders - such as the Chief of Ordnance - were, in
fact, colonels.
And too, the more senior the rank the fewer the numbers
of the officers who attained the rank, resulting in
fewer surviving examples.
In any case, matched pairs of officer shoulder straps in
this excellent condition are seldom available on the
market and this particularly nice set would be
impossible to upgrade.
SOLD
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