Guard, 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, Aldershot, 1895 (c)

Glass negative, W Gregory and Company, 51 Strand, London, 1895 (c).

This image comes from a collection of glass plate negatives associated with William Gregory and Company. The negatives depict the British Army, including some members of the colonial forces, 'at home' in Britain during the 1890s.

The six soldiers are pictured in dismounted review order dress. They are wearing the Lancer cap, the design of which was based on the Polish four-cornered cap known as the czapka. It has a black leather skull and black patent leather peak with a band of gold lace around it. The upper part of the cap is made with ribbed cloth of regimental colour (dark blue) on four sides, and is topped with leather. The drooping plume is made of horse hair of regimental colour (black over white), with a brass boss where the plume attaches. The brass regimental plate is fixed on the lower part of the cap, with lion's head bosses on each side, to which the chin chains are attached.

Their full dress tunics are dark blue with red facings: collar and pointed cuffs, piping around the edge of the tunic, and the plastron on the front. Yellow worsted shoulder cords are secured by two small regimental buttons. Yellow worsted cord cap lines hang around the neck, and a gold girdle with two crimson stripes is worn around the waist. They have white leather pouch belt and black pouches, plus their white leather sword belt and sword. Blue overalls with a double yellow stripe down the outside seam are worn over black wellington boots with spurs attached.

All six soldiers hold their lances which have the distinctive swallow tailed pennon on the top, coloured red over white. Skill-at-arms badges can be seen on the left sleeves of at least two of them, highlighting skill with the lance and for musketry. Three rank chevrons can be seen on the right sleeve of the soldier on the left indicating that he is a sergeant, and the two chevrons for the soldier on the right show he is a corporal.

One of a collection of 278 glass negatives associated with Gregory and Company, London, and F G O Stuart, 1895-1900 (c).