Argentina, Republic. A Navy Admiral's (Almirante) Epaulettes Pair, C.1900

(Armada de la República Argentina = ARA).

Large, decorative stiff-framed epaulettes, uppers in very fine gold-coloured bullion wire with a smooth finish and trimmed in two rows of silver-coloured rolled wire on the edges of the protruding spine, the outer row in a wavy pattern. The insignia in the centre in rolled gold-coloured bullion wire, in various textures, consisting of a fouled anchor, with five gold-coloured sequins on the crown of the anchor, fronted by the national emblem of Argentina, the Sun of May (Sol de Mayo), the sun backed by the red Phrygian cap symbolizing the pursuit of liberty, most of the sixteen rays of the sun each incorporating three gold-coloured sequins, the outline of the sun and the interior lining of the cap in red embroidery. The insignia is framed by two branches, a branch of oak leaves and a branch of laurel leaves, both of which are in silver-coloured rolled wire, with their leaves detailed in fine strands of silver-coloured rolled wire and interlaced with silver-coloured sequins, both of the insignias being a mirror image of the other and are designed for the left and right shoulders respectively. The wide oval cap has a large raised ridge flanked by two rows that butt it, both the raised ridge and the two rows wrapped in gold-coloured bands and bearing strands in gold-coloured bullion wire, in various textures. There are two rows of tightly-wound bullion wire fringe suspended at the end, the outer rows with twenty-two large coils, the inner row with twenty-one coils, both rows secured by a single strand of gold-coloured wire. The sides and undersides of the boards in black felt, each with two large polished metal clips (passants) allowing the epaulettes to be fastened to the shoulders of the uniform tunic, the clips bearing the image of a horse's head. Each of the epaulettes measures 60 mm in width on the spine, 115 mm in width on the oval cap, 188 mm in length from the neck end to the shoulder end, the outer row of large coils and the inner row of small coils measuring approximately 80 mm and 65 mm in length, respectively. One of the epaulettes exhibits fraying on one of the oak leaves which exposes its white threading, along with unravelling in one of the tightly-wound bullion wire large coils on the fringe, the other epaulette free of imperfections, both epaulettes also free of mothing. Together, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Argentine Navy is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force. The Argentine Navy Day is celebrated on May 17th, the anniversary of the victory in 1814 at the Battle of Montevideo over the Spanish fleet during the war of Independence. The modern Argentine Navy participates in joint exercises with other friendly navies like Brazil, United States, Spain, France, Canada, South Africa, Italy, Uruguay, and since the 1990s, Chile.