China, Republic. A Navy NCO Visor Cap by an American Maker c.1942

(中華民國海軍士官帽). In black wool with a stiffened circular crown and black ribbed cap band, the cap fitted with a black leather visor with visible wear and surface scuffing, the interior finished with a black leather sweatband and partial liner, the front presenting a finely embroidered and toned bullion naval badge with blue threads depicting a fouled anchor overlaid by a radiant sunburst emblem of the Republic, all enclosed within laurel branches, this insignia although original appears to have been a later addition to the visor itself, the interior crown retaining remnants of a manufacturer’s celluloid covering with an indistinct maker’s marking, the cap measuring approximately 50 cm in internal circumference corresponding to an approximate size 6 1/8 US (size 49–50 EU), the exterior wool displaying multiple small holes and areas of wear concentrated on the top of the crown with minor loss of nap, the interior liner exhibiting cracking along one side and overall age-related deterioration, unnamed, in worn but intact condition.

Footnote: Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and subsequent alliance with the United States during the Second World War, elements of the Republic of China Navy were supplied, trained, and equipped with assistance from American manufacturers, resulting in uniforms and insignia that often combined traditional Chinese national symbols such as the Blue Sky with a White Sun with Western naval design influences, particularly in officer and NCO headgear produced or influenced by U.S. wartime production standards.