Rotunda Coat Of The 2nd Cuirassier Regiment Of The Imperial Guard, 1854, Second Empire

Rotunda coat of the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment of the Imperial Guard, Model 1854, Second Empire. 32155-1. Made of madder-red cloth, fastening straight with five small wooden buttons covered in madder-red cloth, sleeve cuffs in the shape of boots (cuff height 10 cm). Half-scout collar (11 cm wide), brass clasp at the base of the collar. A dark blue cloth tab is sewn to each end of the collar, forming a buttonhole with a button (missing), allowing the collar to be closed when worn turned up straight. Each tab is 5 cm high and 7.4 cm wide. At the hips, openings 27 cm high, each closing in the middle with a buttonhole, are adorned with a wooden button covered in madder-red cloth in the center and at the top. On the back, an opening in the lower center of the garment, 56 cm long, fastens with four buttons covered in madder-red cloth. A fixed rotunda is sewn under the collar, closing straight with four small buttons, 1.7 cm in diameter, made of stamped pewter bearing the imperial eagle and the inscription "GARDE IMPÉRIALE" (Imperial Guard). The rotunda is 54.5 cm high. The back of the coat, below the rotunda, is dated in black ink with two stamps of the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment of the Guard, "2e CR" and the serial number "51/581," and other stamps that are difficult to read. The total height of the coat from the bottom of the collar is 128 cm. Sleeve length 73 cm. France. Second Empire. Good condition, moth holes, repairs, some original, one of the facings restored. PROVENANCE: Formerly in the Gabriel CIMETIÈRE collection, Bourbon-Lancy Military Museum - Sale of May 17 and 18, 2003 - Auctioneer François BRANGER (Angers) - lot 407 in the catalog. NOTE: This coat model is extremely rare; it was worn during the 1870 campaign. Public collections hold approximately four examples, and we know of four or five in private collections.