Officers’ Shakos 1846 - 55

For service in India, from 1846 to 1855 the 10th Hussars adopted this style of shako to replace the fur busby that they had worn for only four years. Two different patterns of shako are shown here. On the left is an ornately decorated type with interlinking lace circles around the top that are quilted to give an extra richness to the appearance. The central device on the front echoes these circles and has a gimp chain loop extending from the centre to a black cord boss just below the plume. The large, almost horizontal, peak is edged with gilt metal and has lace just inside the edging. The back of the shako has a false upturned patent leather peak edged in a similar way. There is also an inch wide patent leather strip around the base terminating at the rear peak. The overall shape is based on the French kepi of the period, vertical at the front but sloping forward at the back. This shako was photographed at the regimental museum in Winchester c1985.
The shako on the right is from a photo in a Wallis & Wallis auction catalogue of 1988. The decoration is simpler, consisting of gold lace around the top and a rosette on the front made of red and gold lace with a ball button in the middle connecting to the black cord boss by a lace loop. The body of the shako is covered in black velvet, and the sunken top is waterproofed like the left-hand shako. The front peak and rear upturned peak are similar to the other shako. Assuming the black horsehair plume is the original one that accompanied the shako on parade, it is taller than the plume on the left-hand example. The other difference is the chin-chain which has gilt links on a velvet backing. This has been removed from the left-hand shako. The gold cap lines were wound around the shako, hooked up at the back, and attached to the jacket with falling acorn ends.
It is not clear why there are two different types. The left-hand shako may have been the first type but found to be too expensive, especially as the shako was covered for much of the time, either with a white cloth cover in summer, or a black waterproof cover in wet weather. A painting by Henry Martens (see below) of the period shows a mounted officer in dress uniform wearing the shako, with gold lace circles around the top. This may have been commissioned by an officer of the regiment to show the new shako in 1846.

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