Grenadiermütze für Offiziere aus dem Hollsteinschen Leib - Dragoner Regiment (Regierungszeit Zar Peter III. - 1756 - 1762)
The cap badge made of hand-hammered copper sheet with the finest fire gilding.
In the centre, within a wreath of weapons, a crowned rocaille cartouche with a sky-blue enamelled medallion bearing the superimposed mirrored cipher ‘P’ of Tsar Peter III.
Above it, also superimposed on crowned rocaille cartouches, the hand-painted coats of arms with the imperial Russian double-headed eagle and the coat of arms of Holstein.
The whole thing is surmounted by a separately applied, black-painted Russian double-headed eagle with a three-dimensional fire-gilded imperial crown.
On the white wreath on the back, a fire-gilded rocaille weapon trophy with a flaming grenade. On the side, there are also bursting grenades made of fire-gilded copper sheet.
The original wreath is made of white cloth with a border of white-red diamonds. The original cap bag is made of blue cloth with three sewn-on embroidered braids with white-red diamonds.
The original cloth of this cap is 90% preserved.
This grenadier cap is one of the most beautiful and magnificent military headgear of the 18th century due to its beautiful rococo decoration, the cap plate and the fittings, in the outstanding craftsmanship of the officers' workmanship.
Above all, the largely original cloth stock can be described as extraordinary.
Although a few examples of this type of cap have survived, most of them are in museum collections.
A similar example was in the legendary Eugene Mollo Collection and was sold by us to an important private collection a few decades ago.
Glinka also depicts an example from a Russian museum in his book on p. 35.
A sensational, museum-quality grenadier cap from the 18th century, absolutely original in all its parts and of the greatest rarity.
The uniform-historical and cultural-historical significance of such objects can hardly be overstated.
The total height of the standing cap is approx. 30 cm.