Arts Wednesday 14 March 2018

This week sees the start of a new series of Sydney By Design with Ed Lippmann and he has called this series Loved and Unloved, where we will address heritage issues. Part 1 at 10:40 is an introduction to the series, defining what the heritage issues are: do we pull down, do we keep, what parts do we keep and how do we keep them?

My special guest at 11:00 am is Ilana Chaffey, who is a researcher at Nobles, which specialises in coins and stamps. Currently, if you look in their window, you’ll see a number of obviously historic helmets, to be sold in a militaria auction. Ilana was the researcher for the helmets and she recorded a conversation with me about the background and history of some of the headgear. One example is the picture here. It is 17th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancer’s officers czapka, pre 1902. 
 They are dress hats; specifically used by lancer regiments (cavalry officers), who had high status within the army hierarchy. The 17th Lancers have a storied history, notably during the 1800s (when this hat was likely to have been worn) they were involved in the Indian rebellion and the Anglo-Zulu war, and the Second Boer War.

Music today is all about hats.

Do keep me company!