An Auxiliary Police (Polizei) NCO's Shako

An Auxiliary Police (Polizei) NCO's Shako - Molded sturdy, vulcanfibre body with a lacquered, black leather exterior. The body of the shako has an extruding, humped curve reverse with a black leather, downward sloping vulcanfibre front visor and rear neck guard, along with a circular "coffee can" style top, in the traditional police helmet style, that was established in the 1920s and lasted until 1945. Both the front visor and rear neck guard are secured to the shako by a narrow horizontal strip of black leather which is machine stitched along the bottom edge. The circular, black leather, "coffee can" style top is secured to the shako by a row of horizontal stitching running through small, evenly spaced, puncture holes. Each side of the shako body has places for two, small, screened ventilation holes situated just below the crown seam, the screen on the rear vent on the left side remaining intact, the other three vents have lost their screening, while the interior is missing the sliding vent closure panels which once permitted the forward vents to be closed. The front center of the shako has a large, high relief, stamped, natural aluminum, second pattern (c. June 1936 - May 1945), wreathed Police eagle insignia with outstretched wings, clutching a wreathed, canted swastika in it’s talons. The eagle shows nice detailing and is nicely convexed to fit the contours of the shako and is secured by two threaded screwposts with retaining nuts that are visible in the interior. The front center of the shako also has a small, horizontal slot to accommodate the retaining loop of the national tri-colour cockade. The cockade is stamped aluminum, vertically oval, with five silver washed, simulated twisted rope outer edge encompassing a single, black painted, simulated twisted rope inner edge, a single silver washed, ribbed, inner trim and a red painted recessed centerpiece and is not maker marked. The shako has a soft, black leather chinstrap with dual, aluminum, sliding, length adjustment buckles and aluminum retaining rings and posts. The underside of the visor and neck guard are synthetic and finished in forest green. The inside comes complete with its original supple eight-panel leather liner, five ventilation holes on each panel where they butt the sweatband, along with one hole each at the tip for placement of the leather drawstring, the ends of the drawstring tied together on the right side. The underside of the rear panel is stamped "32" in blue ink. The dome has a narrow strip of white cotton glued in place with the embroidered name "Lehmann" stitched in red italics. It measures 165 mm x 245 mm x 155 mm in height, the exterior exhibiting scuffing and contact marks in the black leather, the aluminum Police eagle insignia with slight discolouration on the wings and the cockade with light overall wear, light crazing and wear in the leather sweatband from active use, along with the aforementioned missing vent screens and sliding vent panels. The shako retains its overall shape and integrity. Very fine.