This large and impressive cold painted figure depicts a soldier of a French Zouaves Regiment. He is depicting holding his musket with bayonet fixed and is wearing the flamboyant uniform, with fez to his head. Height 18 inches.
French Zouaves would fight with distinction in the Crimean War, the intervention in Mexico, and the Franco-Prussian War. One Zouave regiment was even added to Napoleon III’s vaunted Imperial Guard. By the First World War, the Zouaves had grown to nine regiments. They even wore their distinctive garb during many of the battles of 1914.
IN TODAY’S WORLD of disruptive camouflage, ghillie suits and stealth technology, the idea of marching into combat in red silk pants, a bright blue tunic adorned with shiny gold buttons and a garish fez seems at best anachronistic, at worst foolhardy. But that’s exactly what France’s famous 19th Century Zouave regiments wore into battle. And it made them legends.
RMSCOOXCIE
*Condition*
In Beautiful unmarked condition, please see the pictures as these form part of our condition report.