This striking lithograph from Spooner’s upright series, published between 1833 and 1836, shows an officer of the Horse Artillery wearing a shako, which replaced the Tarleton helmet in 1827. It is a black beaver, bell-topped cap with a rich gold plaited festoon hung on the front and gilt chin-scales permanently tied at the top. The plume was of white cock’s feathers in review order but this officer appears to have a horsehair plume like the other ranks. His gold cord cap-lines hook up to his left shoulder, ending in flounders and tassels.
His dress jacket has gold cord frogging across the chest with around 18 gilt ball buttons down the front and a similar number of smaller ball buttons down each end of the loops. The collar has fairly simple gold braid while the cuffs are heavily laced and braided. The Drahonet painting of Colonel Downman shows similar decoration on the cuff, suggesting that there was no indication of rank as there was in the later, post-1855 uniform. His trousers are pale blue with a red stripe which means that he is in parade order. He also does not have a pouch-belt. perhaps suggesting that the white leather undress belt for officers had been discontinued by this time. The sabretache agrees with the actual examples in that section. It has a single battle honour for either PENINSULA or WATERLOO. The shabraque continued to be plain, without embroidered cypher or crown.
