Original British WWI Grenadier Guards Bearskin Busby with Liner & Incorrect Blue Irish Guards Plume
In stock
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Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very good original early 20th century British Foot Guards bearskin cap, most likely associated with the Grenadier Guards, retaining its leather-backed brass chinscales and original leather interior. The original front badge is now absent, and the cap presently carries an incorrect St. Patrick’s blue Irish Guards plume, making the current configuration a mixture of Guards regimental features rather than a regulation arrangement.
The plume currently fitted to this cap is St. Patrick’s blue, the distinctive color of the Irish Guards. The Irish Guards wear their blue plume on the right side of the bearskin, not the left. The present plume is therefore incorrect for a Grenadier Guards bearskin in both color and regimental association, and if it is mounted on the left as described, its position is also incorrect for Irish Guards use.
We offer here a great condition Regimental Bearskin Busby Helmet, not marked or dated but complete with an incorrect blue horse hair hackle to the left side, for the Irish Guards. The helmet has a set of leather-backed chinscales, which would likely denote wear by an officer. It unfortunately does not have the regimental cap badge on the front of the busby.
The condition of the bearskin is quite nice, and the interior of the shell is very good as well. The leather liner is however somewhat worn, with much of the black finish having flaked off. However the leather is still intact, and retains the grommets.
This example is particularly interesting as a surviving early 20th century Foot Guards bearskin cap retaining its original liner and chinscales, while also illustrating how these pieces were sometimes altered or incorrectly restored in later years. The blue Irish Guards plume should be regarded as a later or incorrect addition to a cap most likely intended for another Guards regiment.
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