Imperial German Grenadier Regiment 7 King Wilhelm Leutnant Shoulder Board Pair

A matched pair of original Leutnant’s silver-cord shoulder boards (Schulterstücke) of Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 7, the König Wilhelm I. (2. Westpreußisches) Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 7 (King Wilhelm I Grenadier Regiment, 2nd West Prussian, No. 7). The reverses carry collection labels reading “Fig. 6.3 – Gren. 7.” Each board bears a gilt crown above an interlaced cypher and is mounted on a golden-yellow 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 golden-yellow wool underlay. The lower field of each carries a gilt crown above an interlaced gilt cypher. 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.

Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 7 bore the honour-name of König Wilhelm I and stood among the West Prussian grenadier regiments of the line. The crowned cypher honours the regiment’s royal chief, and the survival of a matched left-and-right pair makes the set appreciably more desirable than a single board.

The crowned monogram is an interlaced cypher of the regiment’s royal chief; the precise letters are not cleanly resolved in the provided images and are therefore left unattributed. The crown marks the regiment as one held under a royal chief, and the absence of rank stars on both boards denotes Leutnant.

Condition is good across the pair. The silver cord retains good braid definition with the expected tarnish, and the crowns and cyphers are present and secure on both boards. The golden-yellow underlays are sound, with some loose threads at the bases in the manner normal to the unfinished tuck ends, and the collection labels are intact. No restoration is evident in the provided images.

A matched pair of officer boards from a royally-named grenadier regiment, complete with the crowned cypher of its chief, is a desirable survival: matched pairs are sought in their own right, and the named-regiment association adds further appeal for a grenadier or Prussian-line collection.