Imperial German Guard Grenadier 4 Queen Augusta Leutnant Shoulder Board Pair

A matched pair of original Leutnant’s silver-cord shoulder boards (Schulterstücke) of the Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4 (Queen Augusta Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 4). The reverses carry collection labels reading “GGR 4 – Fig. 7.0.” Each board bears a silver crown above an interlaced cypher and is mounted on a red underlay; the absence of rank stars denotes Leutnant.

Each board is built of flat braided silver cord worked in the herringbone pattern and turned at the rounded head, mounted on a red wool underlay. The lower field of each carries a silver crown above an interlaced silver cypher, which appears as the “A” of Queen Augusta, the regiment’s namesake. Neither board carries a rank star, marking the grade of Leutnant. Button slits are worked at the heads, and the squared bases terminate in cut cord ends with some loose threads.

Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4 bore the name of Queen Augusta, consort of Kaiser Wilhelm I, and ranked among the senior grenadier regiments of the Prussian Guard. The crowned “A” cypher honours the royal namesake, and the matched left-and-right pair — surviving together — is appreciably more desirable than a single board.

The crowned cypher appears to read as the “A” of Queen Augusta; the crown marks the regiment as one held under a royal chief, and the absence of rank stars on both boards denotes the grade of Leutnant.

Condition is very good across the pair. The silver cord is bright with strong braid definition, and the crowns and cyphers are present and secure on both boards. The red underlays are clean, with minor loose threads at the bases in the manner normal to the unfinished tuck ends. No restoration is evident in the provided images.

A matched pair of officer boards from a royally-named Guard grenadier regiment, complete with the crowned cypher of Queen Augusta, is a particularly desirable survival: matched pairs are sought in their own right, and the Guard, grenadier, and royal-name associations together make this an attractive anchor for a Prussian Guard collection.