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This hallmarked silver Oranje Vrystaat Artillerie cap badge, together with matching lion's head boss & whistle, was worn nearly twenty years before the ABW. Pre-dating Albrecht's reforms and the introduction of Prussian-style dress in 1890, these pieces were made by Birmingham silversmiths Bent & Parker for uniforms based on those of the Royal Artillery. The assay marks for 1873 point to a time when the OVS Artillerie only had two officers, Adjutant J.A.J. van Rensburg and Lt. E.J. Holtzhuizen. Van Rensburg was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 October1866, and Holtzhuizen on 5 September1870. This set will have belonged to one of these two men.









































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Neville, a magnificent collection!. On Ebay I came across an Oranje Vrystaat Artillery Cap badge in bronze that on first glance had all the Hallmarks of Owen 2061 with the INVICETTIA for IMMIGRATIE text. On closer inspection however, I noticed quite a few differences with the one in Owen’s book.

Owen 2061


Variation on Owen 2061 as offered on Ebay:




Some of the more obvious differences:
1: top of the flag touches scroll
2: various differences in animal design, tree trunk etc.
3: Different trumpet designs
4: different position of where scrolls touch
5: Fewer stripes in flag
6: different sroll-types
7: Larger “0”

Well spotted, Everhard.
One wonders how many variations there are on this theme.

Here's another, which is very similar to the eBay badge. However, notably, it lacks the "0".
EBay type shown at bottom for comparison.




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Neville, your badge is definitely pressed on a different die than Version 2 (“Ebay badge”). Beside the omission of the “0” there are quite a few differences in the flag design, the scrolls around the crest are notably thicker, the wires from which the trumpets hang are straight as well as some minor differences within the crest. So Owen 2061 exists in at least three different versions.


(photograph: Neville Constantine)

There is a small lot of 2 OVS badges -one bronze, one white metal- coming up for auction in Australia (JBL auction). One is a blackened Owen 2063, and the other is described as “Owen 2070.” The description of the latter is clearly wrong.

Owen 2070 as in Colin Owen’s book with some of the many aspects that differ from the badge offered at the JBL auction indicated.


Badge offered at JBL auction as W/M Owen 2070


The badge offered at auction has all the attributed of a w/m (silvered?) Owen 2063. (Owen 2063 shown below for comparison (not blackened)

Owen 2063 in bronze




The reverse of the JBL badge (w/m, silvered? Owen 2063)


What is a bit intriguing is that the fastening loops of the JBL badge are clearly bronze. (which would be silvered when dipped; perhaps attached after silvering?) This raises a number of questions: Is it after all a white metal badge stamped on an Owen 2063 die? Or is it a bronze Owen 2063 badge that was at some stage made to look like a white metal badge? and if so, was this done at the time to reflect the wearer’s move up the ranks or much later by a collector who needed to fill a void? Suggestions?

Everhard,

The "silvering" looks very odd to me. Not what one would expect for a 120-year old badge. Very bling....
It certainly bears no resemblance to ZAR white-metal insignia, which have a nice toned look to them, in keping with their age.

Neville