Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an item we have very little information about due to its scarcity, an American “Uhlan” Tschapka helmet with an American Eagle wappen plate, full faux chinscales, and a plated steel mortarboard with a full plume and Aiguillette still attached. We have offered one similar example before, but it had a much shorter body and had a different wappen. That’s what’s so great about late 19th Century American militia-wear, even if something is already one-of-a-kind, it can still have variation like this!

There are no markings on the helmet we could find, but it appears to have gone through heavy period repairing and taping which has been removed. There are some holes in the body, and there is heavy cracking and crazing to the leather. We aren’t sure if this example is a U.S.-made example or a German import.

The original U.S. Eagle wappen plate is well-retained by its prongs on the interior, and the shadow the wappen has left certainly verifies it as being original to the helmet. The original brass chinscales are well-retained as well, with the leather under them still intact but very weak. Interestingly, the chinscales are “faux” as they are stamped to appear as multiple stacked scales when they are in fact single-piece construction.
The plated steel mortarboard is still well-attached and there is light wear to the plating across it. There is a ring attached to the top on one corner for attachment of the Aiguillette, which is still intact and is in great overall shape with the usual period wear. The plume is attached via a screw-mount, which is loose but still attached. The interior still retains the liner with heavy wear. There is no size marking, but it’s roughly a size 52, very small due to leather shrinkage.

This is an incredible piece of American headgear, only the 2nd example we could find. There are American pickelhaubes using the same wappen with spikes & another with a plume, but we have found no other examples of an American Uhlan Tschapka, making this a truly one-of-a-kind piece. One of the best U.S. helmets we have ever offered, ready for further research and display.

The Ulanen (Lancers) Tschapka (chapka) with its distinctive square top first appeared in 1808 when Preußen introduced Ulanen (Lancer) Regiments to emulate the Polish lancers as did many nations; especially after the Polish Lancer's performance at Waterloo in 1815. The M1843 Tschapka was a tall helmet with a squared top which was secured with gilt chinscales. The neck of the upper flat portion on the Tschapka (called a "mortar board" by English collectors) was permanently covered with a colored cloth Paraderabatte (parade rabatte). The Paraderabatten colors were specific to each Regiment but were trimmed in white for Mannschaften (Other Ranks) and silver bullion for officers. The Fangschnur (securing cord) were attached to the top of the Tschapka with a toggle for Mannschaften and a hook for officer and private purchase.