Named K.u.K. Black Stiff Officer's Cap With 1916 Plappert Portrait

A particularly evocative First World War Austro-Hungarian officer grouping consisting of a black stiff officer’s cap accompanied by a period studio portrait identifying its presumed owner as Leutnant Anton Plappert. The close agreement between the surviving cap and the headgear worn in the photograph creates a strong and historically persuasive association, although the absence of an interior name label prevents an absolute declaration that the photographed cap and the present example are one and the same.

The cap is the tall, cylindrical private-purchase form commonly described by collectors as the schwarze steife Offizierskappe, or “black stiff officer’s cap,” used by commissioned officers of the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Army. Its rigid body is covered in finely finished black wool cloth that takes on a subtle blue-black tone under strong light. The sides rise almost vertically before narrowing slightly toward the crown, producing the formal, high-profile silhouette favored by many officers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The front is dominated by an elaborate gold-colored officer’s cockade. This consists of concentric rings of tightly arranged metallic bullion cord surrounding the intertwined imperial cipher “FJI,” representing Kaiser Franz Joseph I. The cipher is enclosed within a smaller decorative wreath-like border and remains clearly recognizable. Suspended below the cockade is the traditional black-threaded gold cap loop, formed from braided metallic cord and secured at its lower end by a domed gilt button. The bullion has developed a pleasing mixture of retained brightness, subdued oxidation, and darker age toning, giving the ornament the authentic appearance expected of an officer’s privately purchased cap worn during the First World War.

A narrow black and gold twisted cord encircles the cap immediately above the visor. Black and yellow were the dynastic colors of the House of Habsburg and appeared repeatedly throughout Austro-Hungarian military insignia, uniform trim, cockades, and officer accoutrements. The cord remains substantially complete and closely follows the lower circumference, though its metallic thread has naturally darkened in several places.

The black patent-leather visor has a rounded front edge with a raised stitched border. Its upper surface retains a strong gloss, interrupted by minor scuffs, fine scratches, and light age-related surface wear. The underside is finished in green, a traditional treatment intended to reduce reflected glare. Above the visor is the original black leather chinstrap, secured at the sides by black domed buttons. The strap passes through leather keepers and incorporates a rectangular brass adjustment buckle at the center front. The brass has acquired an uneven darkened patina, while the leather displays expected handling marks and mild dryness without losing its essential form.

The cap’s interior is lined in ocher or mustard-colored cotton twill. A gray-blue leather or leathercloth sweatband surrounds the opening. Portions of this band exhibit surface crazing, abrasion, fraying, and localized separation, particularly near the rear seam and along the upper edge. The interior attachment for the frontal ornament remains visible as a small metal fastening passing through the lining. No maker’s label, tailor’s inscription, unit stamp, size marking, or handwritten ownership designation is visible in the supplied photographs.

This style of black officer’s cap developed through a variety of privately tailored forms. Around the turn of the twentieth century, officers frequently favored relatively high, cylindrical examples such as this one, although dimensions, visor angles, cord widths, and degrees of stiffness varied according to fashion and individual preference. The army attempted to regulate these proportions, but officers purchased much of their own dress and field clothing, allowing considerable variation. Black officer caps continued to be worn through the end of the Habsburg Monarchy, even after pike-gray and later field-gray uniforms had been introduced.

The gold-embroidered cockade is an important indication of commissioned officer status. Austro-Hungarian officer caps did not display rank through multiple bands or cap devices in the manner of several other European armies. The wearer’s precise rank was instead shown principally by the stars and distinctions worn on the collar. The cap therefore identifies its owner as an officer but does not, by itself, distinguish a Leutnant from an Oberleutnant or Hauptmann.

The central “FJI” cipher refers to Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary, whose reign extended from 1848 until his death in November 1916. The use of his cipher on the cap is fully consistent with the accompanying photograph’s 1916 date. It places the grouping within the final year of Franz Joseph’s exceptionally long reign and within the period before the gradual appearance of insignia bearing the cipher of his successor, Karl I. The abbreviation k.u.k., appearing on the photographer’s mount, translates as kaiserlich und königlich, or “Imperial and Royal,” the designation used for institutions common to both halves of the Dual Monarchy.

The accompanying photograph is a mounted full-length studio portrait of a young Austro-Hungarian officer standing beside a wicker chair. He wears a light-colored wartime tunic with standing collar, concealed front fastening, two breast pockets with shaped flaps, and lower skirt pockets. A single rank star appears at each side of the collar, corresponding to the junior commissioned rank of Leutnant, translated as lieutenant. He wears a circular decoration suspended from the characteristic Austro-Hungarian triangular ribbon, although the image does not preserve sufficient detail to identify the award conclusively. He holds gloves in his left hand while resting that hand upon the hilt of his officer’s sword.

The officer is photographed wearing a black stiff cap of the same general form as the present example. The portrait shows the high cylindrical body, glossy visor, black chinstrap, central officer’s cockade, descending cap loop, and domed lower button. These features correspond closely to the surviving cap. The photograph therefore provides valuable visual context for how such headgear appeared when worn with the wartime officer’s uniform.

The photographer’s printed information appears on both sides of the mount. The front bears the signature “Pokorny” and the designation “Kais. u. Königl. Hof-Fotograf,” translated as “Imperial and Royal Court Photographer.” The reverse reads “K.u.K. Hof-Fotograf Pokorny, Wien, nur VI., Mariahilferstrasse No. 55, Telefon No. 1976,” translated as “Imperial and Royal Court Photographer Pokorny, Vienna, exclusively in the Sixth District, Mariahilferstrasse No. 55, telephone No. 1976.”

A circular studio mark near the bottom reads “Platten bleiben reserviert” together with the date 1916. The phrase translates literally as “the plates remain reserved,” indicating that the photographic studio retained the original glass negative or printing plate for possible future orders.

Most significantly, the reverse carries the handwritten identification:

“Anton Plappert (15.XII.1885) als Leutnant im Weltkrieg.”

This translates as:

“Anton Plappert, born 15 December 1885, as a lieutenant in the World War.”

The wording provides the grouping with a named historical association and records Plappert’s date of birth as December 15, 1885. The inscription appears to have been added as a family or collection identification rather than as part of the photographer’s original printing. No regiment, battalion, branch of service, birthplace, or campaign is given.

The exact regiment cannot be established from the cap or photograph alone. The black officer’s cap was not restricted to one regiment, and the black-and-white photograph does not reveal the colored collar facing that would normally assist in identifying a regiment or service branch. No regimental numeral is visible on the cap, collar, buttons, sword, or photograph. Any assignment to a specific infantry regiment, artillery formation, Landwehr unit, or specialized corps would therefore be speculative without further documentation.

The cap remains in good, untouched collector condition. The black wool covering retains a generally uniform appearance but displays scattered nap wear, dust, minor discoloration, and several small moth nips or shallow losses, particularly on the side panels. The upper edges show localized fraying and fabric loss, and a portion of the interior sweatband is worn and separated. The gold and black cord trim remains substantially intact, with age-darkening and minor displacement. The officer’s cockade and braided loop are complete, though the bullion has oxidized and several individual threads show wear. The lower gilt button exhibits rubbing, discoloration, and small surface marks.

The leather chinstrap survives with its buckle, keepers, side fastenings, and front arrangement intact. It shows light crazing, abrasions, and edge wear consistent with age. The visor is sound and retains a presentable gloss, with expected scratching and minor wear around its stitched edge. The interior lining is complete enough to preserve the cap’s original structure but shows staining, creasing, dust, and wear from use.

The photograph exhibits light surface scratching, minor silvering, scattered abrasions, edge wear, and a small area of loss or damage along the right side. The reverse has mild staining, foxing, handling marks, and age toning, but the handwritten identification, photographer’s information, and 1916 studio mark remain legible.

Named Austro-Hungarian officer material is considerably more desirable than anonymous uniform pieces, particularly when accompanied by a period image showing the attributed owner wearing the same distinctive type of headgear. Comparable unnamed black stiff officer caps have recently sold or been offered in the mid-hundreds of euros, with condition, provenance, maker, insignia, and associated documentation having a considerable effect on value. 

This grouping offers a direct and personal connection to the officer class of the late Habsburg Army. The cap embodies the formal traditions of the prewar Imperial and Royal military establishment, while the photograph places that tradition within the realities of the First World War and preserves the name, appearance, rank, and birth date of Leutnant Anton Plappert.