United Kingdom. A Full Dress Tunic for a Cavalry Officer of the Royal Dragoons for a Major to Lieutenant Colonel, late 19th–early 20th Century

A late Victorian to early Edwardian British Army cavalry full dress tunic constructed in scarlet wool, privately tailored to officer quality for service with the Royal Dragoons, the front fitted with eight original gilt brass regimental buttons bearing the crowned Royal Dragoons device, the lowest ninth button now missing, the reverses stamped Jehnens & Co., London. The stand and fall collar is faced in black cloth and edged with gilt lace, each side bearing the Royal Dragoons regimental badge, rendered as a finely worked gilt bullion French Imperial Eagle executed in high-relief hand embroidery and backed in black cloth, The cuffs are faced in black cloth and decorated with elaborate gilt bullion Austrian knot embroidery indicative of field officer rank. The shoulders retain heavy plaited gilt cord shoulder boards secured by small gilt buttons, while the rear skirts display paired decorative gilt cord frogging fastened by gilt buttons, all in keeping with late Victorian to early Edwardian cavalry full dress regulations. The interior retains its original quilted padded construction for structure and wear and additionally retains a paper tag indicating prior sale through Waddingtons Auctioneers, providing documented auction provenance. No tailor’s label is present. The tunic measures flat at approximately 35 cm across the chest, 34 cm at the waist, 75 cm in overall back length, with the cuffs measuring 20 cm from the top of the bullion knot to the bottom of the cuff, the collar measuring 5.5 cm in height, and the shoulder boards measuring 14 cm in length.

Overall, in good service-worn condition, showing light age-related wear to the wool cloth, minor handling and surface wear to the gilt bullion embroidery and buttons, the interior padding intact, and the lowest front button absent, otherwise structurally sound and visually impressive.

Footnote: The Royal Dragoons were among the senior cavalry regiments of the British Army, and uniquely authorised to bear the captured French Imperial Eagle as a permanent regimental emblem following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This distinction appears prominently on officer full dress uniforms, including collar badges, buttons, and other insignia, and continued to be worn into the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, preserving historic cavalry traditions during the transition from Victorian to Edwardian dress regulations.