|
MODEL 1904 OFFICER’S SERVICE SADDLE CLOTH –
EXCELLENT SPECIMEN IN LIKE NEW UNUSED CONDITION:
As described in the Ordnance Department Manual No. 1719,
Horse Equipments and Equipments for Officers and
Enlisted Men, dated 1905, this Model 1904 Officer’s
Service Saddle Cloth was never used and it remains in a
remarkable “like new” as manufactured condition.
The clean, bright olive drab duck material still retains
the rigid, sized nature of the fabric when it was new,
and the Saddle Cloth is not misshapen. The fabric
retains its original color and shows no evidence of
having ever been under a saddle or on a horse, avoiding
all the characteristic stains normally found on these
saddle cloths from the horse sweat or the imprints of
the saddle and stirrup and girthing straps.
The russet leather spine and edge binding still retains
the bright “pink” finish of russet leather with no oil
or sweat stains and no damage due to wear.
Having handled dozens of these saddle cloths held in
museum and private collections in the course of the
research for The American Military Saddle 1776-1945,
it was quite apparent that the majority of these cloths
were subjected to heavy use and wear. Understandably,
the thorough soaking of horse sweat and the accumulated
and concentrated deposits of body salts from the horse
rendered these cloths especially prone to deterioration
and eventual disposal. Hence, surviving examples of
these cloths in any condition are not common today,
making those worthy of displaying relatively scarce.
Finding a like new specimen such as this one of the
Model 1904 Service Saddle Cloth is very unusual, and it
is one that would be impossible to upgrade. This is a
fine saddle cloth to display under a particularly nice
Model 1904 McClellan or any of the 20TH
Century U.S. Army officers’ saddles.
SOLD
|
