Lancer officer's undress cap belonging to Major Caesar Bacon
Date made: c.1816
Description: Red and silver 'Chapka' style Lancer officer's undress or forage cap. The 23rd along with several other Light Dragoon Regiments (9th, 12th, 16th and 19th) were converted to Lancers in 1816. This cap draws heavily on the lancer style adopted from the French (who in turn had adopted it from Polish lancers) so it is likely to post-date that change.
It would appear that the peak is a later addition and is of French origin. There was a fashion around this time for British officers to discretely incorporate a piece of captured French uniform into their own, and it would seem likely that Bacon had the peak of a French officer's cap (possibly from the Waterloo battlefield) added to his own by a tailor.
Object name: cap
Collection: Costume & Textiles Collection
ID Number: 1954-1773
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