WW1 French M1884 78th Inf.Regt Kepi

An M1884 other ranks kepi of the 78th Infantry regiment as worn by the French army in the early 1914 period .
As with most French army attire upon its mobilisation in 1914 this model dated from the 1880s & was soon replaced by 1915 with other forms of less conspicuous headgear which continued to evolve as the war went on. Of red wool cloth with dark blue cord piping the cap band has the number of the regiment crudely stitched on in this case the 78th. When one examines the ad hoc stitching of the patch onto the band it is quite apparent that this is very typical rough soldier applied sewing as is found on most original examples. The circular leather cutout patch in the leather crown has size marking '56' & an inspection stamp which appears to give the date 1899. Chinstrap complete with two tombac c/s buttons bearing the flaming grenade of the infantry. There are some very old obligatory light surface moth nips of the wool in places nothing detracting .
As with most French infantry militaria from WW1 this Kepi is well worn & epitomises the 'Poilu' of 1914.

Code: 14066