(Schulterklappen). A scarce and unusual lot of First World War Imperial Russian shoulder straps, taken and assembled by a German serviceman as a trophy of the conflict, including:
1. A pair of Imperial Army Enlisted personnel straps, each constructed of olive-drab wool, bearing ink pencil numerals for the 57th and 91st Regiments, both retaining a silvered bronze button bearing a raised imperial eagle, each stitched to a card stock backer bearing a handwritten German-language caption, in turn pasted to a paper stock backer, each strap measuring 55 mm (w) x 150 mm (l), the paper backer measuring 23.5 cm (w) x 29 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.
2. A matching set of Imperial Army Enlisted/NCO greatcoat straps, each constructed of grey wool with a red wool underlay, topped by two silver-grey embroidered tresses, and retaining a silvered button bearing a raised imperial eagle, each stitched to a card stock bearing bearing a handwritten-German language inscription indicating that they were retrieved from the greatcoat of a Russian prisoner of war (POW) in 1916, in turn pasted to a paper stock backer, each strap measuring 72 mm (w) x 125 mm (l), the paper backer measuring 23.5 cm (w) x 29 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.
3. A single 7th Regiment strap, constructed of dark navy blue wool with a red wool underlay, bearing a numeral “7” in yellow ink pencil, retaining a bronze button bearing an imperial eagle, measuring 70 mm (w) x 160 mm (l), stitched to a card stock backer bearing a handwritten German-language inscription, in turn pasted to a paper stock backer, the strap measuring 70 mm (w) x 160 mm (l), in extremely fine condition.