19thC British Regimental Souvenir? Brass bear. Help Needed

[Atlantia]

Here's an interesting little chap.
He's exactly 3-1/2 inches tall, made of brass and rather 'like' a little candlestick.
Anyway, reason he caught my eye is he's wearing a 'military' style harness, has a collar with shield at his throat and is carrying a shield with a 'light infantry' bugle on it.
He has been polished about a million times and is quite rubbed.

I have to say when I saw him I thought 'early to mid 19th C regimental souvenir........... or chess piece'!
Any help appreciated.

[Atlantia]

No opinions?

[fernando]

Not a chess piece, with that square base
And, Gene, he's ugly
... Just kidding, old chap

[Jim McDougall]

powder horn symbolic of flank companies...infantry crossbelt harness

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by fernando

Not a chess piece, with that square base
And, Gene, he's ugly
... Just kidding, old chap

He's an old gentleman, who'se suffered many polishings... he might have been handsome... once

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

powder horn symbolic of flank companies...infantry crossbelt harness

Are they meant to be powder horns? I thought they were 'horn' bugles..
They are the symbol used by light infantry companies here. In fact the local regiment to me (A rifles regiment) in Exeter has one as its badge.
So come on Jim, you love a mystery, what do you conclude?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Are they meant to be powder horns? I thought they were 'horn' bugles..
They are the symbol used by light infantry companies here. In fact the local regiment to me (A rifles regiment) in Exeter has one as its badge.
So come on Jim, you love a mystery, what do you conclude?

Oh man! I really walked right into that gauntlet!!! You're right, I love mysteries, and never realized the scope of items would be so ever broadening here. Probably the only thing I know less about than guns would be these kinds of memoribilia.
I used to subscribe to the National Army Museum group years ago (when I collected British regulation swords), and the annual publication often presented the most unusual things that had become acquisitions. They are phenomenal at thier knowledge of this kind of regimental esoterica.

I had forgotten about the M1803 Light Company officers sabre motif being a strung horn bugle, and was thinking of the powder horns the troopers also used for their muskets. Apparantly the bugle horn had replaced the drum in communication for these widely dispersed units, and then became the symbol.

It seems the bear is simply wearing the crossbelt harness with the horn, and without resources to the huge corpus of material on traditions and symbols of the British units ( for some reason this seems British) it is really hard to guess. During the Crimean War the Russians were symbolized by the bear, but it would seem something more symbolic uniform wise would be present.
Weren't the shakos of the guards made of bearskin, and those of the Scots Greys?
Thats about all I can come up with for now.....as always, maybe the experts out there reading might know something........the gauntlet goes now to the lurkers!!!


All the best,
Jim


Addendum: was just thinking, this looks like a trophy type base, could it be some kind of gag 'award' used in the uh, regimental tomfoolery?

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
The 'shield' at the throat could perhaps represent a gorget, Gene you may have to salute this little bear as you pass him by.
Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Gorgets were discontinued in the British Army in the second quarter of the 19thC so potentially he could be quite an old bear.

[Atlantia]

Jim, Norman
Thank you gentlemen. My initial impression, as I said above was early to mid 19thC, hopefully some kind of commemorative piece from the Napoleonic wars. But I can't think of the connection for the bear?
Bearskin hats of course, but a bear in 'uniform'?
Unless he represented a particular action or a regimental mascot?
These obscure pieces can be a frustrating search!

[Atlantia]

Thats a good idea about our non-registered readers Jim.
If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to drop me an email to: gimmieitbaby@aol.com

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Thats a good idea about our non-registered readers Jim.
If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to drop me an email to: gimmieitbaby@aol.com

Thanks Gene, and while I always hope that some of the readers out there will join us officially (as I know there is tremendous knowledge and experience out there!) , I do hope they might step forward on this interesting bear.
There is so much history in even the simplest items in so many cases, and like the weapons, even these associated pieces have stories to tell.
Thank you for joining me in the invitation.

All the best,
Jim