G04753 PRUSSIAN EM/NCO'S SHAKO PLATE. (Tschako Zierate) 

BACKGROUND: Some military historians credit the French with the development of the Shako in the 1780s, following the design of the contemporary civilian top hat, while others claim that it was based on the Austro-Hungarian or Bavarian "Casquette" that was introduced at roughly the same time. It is known, however, that the Shako was originally adopted by the Prussian army as an experimental model in 1801, and was the standard headgear utilized by "Jäger" (Light Infantry) and "Schützen" (Riflemen) during the Napoleonic wars. The 1801 pattern Shako went through numerous modifications, and in March of 1854 a new pattern was officially adopted by "Jäger" and "Schnelle Truppen" (Mobile Troops), which was utilized until the end of WWI. The same regional coat-of-arms utilized on the Pickelhaube was used on the Shako, which, from the beginning of 1915, was made of matt-grey sheet iron. 

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A crowned, Prussian heraldic eagle, which grasps an orb in one talon and a scepter in the other, with "FR" (for "Friedrich Rex") upon its breast, and, upon a scroll extending across its upswept wings, "Mit Gott Für Koenig und Vaterland" (With God for King and Fatherland). The eagle is curved, obviously following the contours of the Shako it was originally fixed to. To its hollow-backed reverse are soldered attachment loops behind each wing. Light surface spotting is evident alongside these attachment loops, and, less noticeably so, to recesses to both its reverse and obverse. Very little wear is to its obverse highlights, although the thinness of the stamping may be seen through very small separations, mostly along the wings.

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