Figure 225
An unusual manufacturing technique was used in making this plate. It was struck in very heavy brass about 1/16 inch thick and the whole tinned; then, all the tin on the obverse, except that on the crested helmet device, was buffed away, giving the center ornament the appearance of having been silvered. The specimen obviously was made for a particular mounted unit, designation unknown. An interesting detail is the letter "A" on the half-sunburst plate of the dragoon helmet device.
SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840
USNM 604350-M (S-K 506). Figure 226.
Figure 226
This plate, which is of brass with a cast, white-metal likeness of Washington applied with wire fasteners, may well have belonged to either the Washington Greys of Philadelphia or the unit of the same designation of Reading, Pennsylvania. Prints of these two organizations in U.S. Military Magazine[136] show profiles on the shoulder-belts plates, although the plate of the Reading unit is depicted as being oval.