Imperial Russian Soldier's cap with camouflaged cockade

Description

Imperial Russian linen soldier's cap with camouflaged cockade.
Coarse linen cap with natural linen lining with acceptance stamps, imitation leather sweat band,  fibre-board painted visor.
Wool covered cockade.
Cap in very good condition, only cockade cover exhibits minor moth damage. Sweat band intact with only slight surface loss to finish. Painted visor has craqueleur, but no paint loss.
The cloth cap "in a protective colour" was introduced on March 16th,1909. Between 1909 and August, 1914 various models employed coloured piping to denote particular regiments, but this was discontinued after August 21st.
On August 31st, 1914, a new directive permitted the use of any suitable material "in a protective colour" available on the market.
Later, during the war, soldiers took it upon themselves to cover the metal cockade on the front of the cap with paint or a cloth covering to lessen visibility to enemy snipers.