The design enjoyed a long life, and plates of this 

 general pattern were struck well into the 1 880's. The 

 major difference between earlier and later specimens is 

 that the early ones were struck on rather heavy sheets 

 of copper-colored brass, with fasteners consisting of a 

 tongue and heavy wire loops brazed to the reverse. 

 The later plates have a bright brassy color, are struck 

 on thin brass, and have the loop and tongue soldered 

 rather than brazed. 



WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 604108-M (_S-K 264). Figure 210. 



The lack of a mane on the beast on this plate marks 

 it as a tiger. The best known and most affluent 

 Militia organization with the nickname "Tigers" was 

 the Boston Light Infantry, although a number of 

 others also were so-called. The craftsmanship and 

 general elegance of this gold-plated brass specimen 

 suggests that it was worn by an officer, though an 

 occasional volunteer company was so richly endowed 

 that all its members, officers and enlisted men alike, 

 wore expensive devices. The bench-assembled manu- 

 facturing technique, gaudy embellishment, and lack 

 of a distinct Victorian touch date the piece about 

 1840. The tiger's head is applied. 



Figure qio 

 WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 604104-M (S~K 260). Figure 211. 



The full-flowing mane on the beast on this plate 

 identifies it as a lion. The device would have been 

 appropriate for wear by the .\lbany Burgesses Corps, 

 which, when founded in 1833, almost immediately 

 adopted the lion's head as its distinctive insignia. 



Figure 21 1 



The unit continued to wear this plate for about half 

 a century. While that unit's cap plate (fig. 170) is 

 much more formal and is without a lion's head, its 

 buttons contain the lion — with head turned to half- 

 right — as a principal ornament. While it is probable 

 that the original die for this cast-brass plate was sunk 

 for the Albany organization, the manufacturer would 

 not have hesitated to offer it for sale to any interested 

 Militia unit. 



WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 60479-M {S-K 235). Figure 212. 



The raised letters "\v o" on this cast-brass and 

 gilded plate would have been suitable for many 



Figure -2 r2 



101 



