Officer's bicorn hat of the Napoleonic Wars period

Initially, uniform hats were used throughout Europe, and later in In Russia, they were round, with wide margins. To prevent the edges of the fields from interfering with the action of weapons, at the turn of the XVII and XVIII centuries. they began to bend down to the crown, first from the front, and then from the sides. Since such fixation was unreliable, the edges of the brim began to be tied with a special cord – this is how the triangular hat appeared. The same lace served to fit the crown of the hat to the size of the head. During the XVIII century, due to the demands of the fashion of the field, one of the corners of the hat rose more and more upward, until it turned from triangular to bicagonal. Nevertheless, in Russian official documents, such headdresses were referred to as a "triangular hat" or simply a "hat" until 1917. In Europe, since the end of the XVIII century, the term "bicorne" was used, literally – two-sided. Hats could be made either using classical technology, from thin felt, with brims connected by special cords (in addition to a cord for tightening the crown), or from thinner felt with a characteristic "velour" surface texture. To shape such headdresses, steel wire or whalebone were inserted into the edges of the fields.

By the beginning of the 19th century, hats of a characteristic shape with downturned corners of the brim were widespread in Europe, with the exception of France. Russian russians could carry them either across (in Russian terminology, "in the field", or along, one of the corners forward – in Russian terminology, "from the field". In the latter method, the hat was slightly shifted back so that the front corner was on a par with the forehead, and the back almost touched the back between the shoulder blades. A typical decorative element was a buttonhole made of woven gold or silver braid of a special pattern, on top of which a metal button was attached. The edges of the fields could be trimmed with a similar braid, its width was determined by the rank or position of the owner.

This hat, judging by its shape and design features, belongs to the last years of the XVIII or the first decade of the XIX century. Nationality has not been established, but it is known that hats of this shape with a similar finish were used by officers and officials in England, Austria and in the German states at that time. The item differs from the hats used by Russian officers from 1802 to the 1840s, and by officials up to 1855, in the decoration and absence of a cockade. Since the hat comes from France, where it was kept as a family heirloom for a long time, it was presumably taken as a trophy in the Napoleonic Wars. The side brushes, which ended in a cord that tightened the crown, are apparently lost. The lining has also been replaced. Otherwise, the item has been perfectly preserved, which is very rare for items from 200 years ago.