Description
This is a very high-quality pair of Oberstleutnant’s Feldartillerie-Regiment epaulettes. An officer of this rank often was a regiment’s deputy commander or, on occasion, the regimental commander himself. One of the main differences in epaulettes at the rank of a Major, an Oberstleutnant, or an Oberst was the large quantity of bullion ringlets (approximately seventy-five or more individual ringlets) that extended from the epaulette’s main body. In this case, the bullion ringlets are silver. A Leutnant, an Oberleutnant, and a Hauptmann’s epaulettes featured NO ringlets, just the body. For the rank of general officer (all five), ringlets WERE attached.
The metal frames (I call them moons) are gilt. The epaulette’s interior has a red felt background on the top. Within that is Baden’s large royal crown in brass, along with a single, gilt-toned pip denoting their status as an Oberstleutnant. [Please note on the accompanying photographs that one epaulette has aged a bit harder than the other. One of the frames has more patina to it, and the felt has also seen more use. It is all a part of their history].
When we turn them over, we see that a skirt of smaller ringlets is attached under the main ringlets. They are more of a silver-gray, matching what we see on the Baden dress officer’s sash above. The underlying fabric is red to match the top. The epaulette that shows more wear on the front has two major mothing patches along with some smaller, scattered mothing. The other epaulette has one or two smaller nips.
This is a hard-to-find pair of epaulettes, particularly in this rank. It is quite likely only ONE officer of this rank would be present in a regiment at any one time.
