West Somerset Yeomanry
 

G'day there!

Picked up this West Somerset Yeomanry shako plate around 6 months ago.

I've been discussing the possibility of getting the badge re-silvered/gilt with its previous owner. We think the backing plate was most likely gilt, but we're not fully sure as to whether the centre portions of the shako need to be in silver or gilt.

The plate was adorned with an interesting, thickly applied purple-brown material that only came off after much scrubbing with a toothbrush and spending a week immersed in lemon juice.

Here's a link to a google drive with the images.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...Of?usp=sharing

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated,

All the best,
Alexander

Re silvering / gilding without knowing the plate’s original state risks turning it into something it was never.

There is some slight pitting on the plate, especially on the lettering. Giving it a fresh finish not commensurate with this wear will I suspect cause it to look ‘messed with’ and raise doubts in some collectors minds especially should it ever be moved it on.

Personally I would leave it well alone now. Compared to how it started it has come up well.

I'm with Luke on this one.
It looks really good as it is, you've done a good job of cleaning it.
Chris

Agreed, as it is it's original, refinished it's part repro. To each their own.

I once left some gilded buttons in a loft for a year or two, when I retrieved them they were all a uniform red - brown colour, having the appearance of being painted. I thought they were probably ruined but lemon juice and a gentle rub with a tooth brush brought them up as good as new.

It's a pity the gildings gone from the plate but it's still a nice, original item.

I've seen a couple of badges with modern so called gilding and thought they looked terribly bad to put it politely with the colour and finish making them look like something from the pound shop.

Nice badge.
Andy

I fully agree to leave as is. The cleaning job worked out well in my opinion.

CB

I agree with leaving it. I clean any dirt that might be on an item, but otherwise leave them as father-time has made them.

An example, from my trip to Normandy I brought back several rifle casings from one of the airborne battle sites we dug on a friends farm, and gave one to a collector friend. Next time I saw him, he showed it to me and it was all cleaned and polished, looking just like a highly polished new made shell casing. But, it was no longer the relic it had been. To put it simply, he had ruined it.

Terry

I've mentioned this before - never leave a bit of dull or dirty metal around near an old Guardsman.
20 years ago I obtained some medieval crossbow bolt heads, Roman coins, a Roman hunting spear head and a lovely little Celtic bronze axe head with owl decoration from Bihac, Bosnia.
Although I really liked the items I gave them to my father as I knew he'd like them.

A few years ago I saw them, he'd made a nice little glazed showcase for them - and polished off their lovely green and brown patinas probably with vinegar and a scouring pad.

Definitely given me some food for thought. Re-gilding/silver is off the table, but I'll take it to a jeweller, see if they can put it in an ultrasonic cleaner, try and dislodge the final bits of pink gunk in the hobnailed parts. Once you get through it, it comes up pretty nicely.

Thanks for your thoughts. Really appreciate it.

Now the fun part, trying to research the unit!

Merry christmas,
Alexander

If you've got pink metal polish residue stuck in the badge try a dash of white spirit with a gentle rub with a toothbrush then when it's free washing up liquid all over scrub and rinse with warm water.