_USNM 604104-M (S-K 260). Figure 211._
[Illustration: FIGURE 211]
The full-flowing mane on the beast on this plate identifies it as a
lion. The device would have been appropriate for wear by the Albany
Burgesses Corps, which, when founded in 1833, almost immediately
adopted the lion's head as its distinctive insignia. The unit
continued to wear this plate for about half a century. While that
unit's cap plate (fig. 170) is much more formal and is without a
lion's head, its buttons contain the lion--with head turned to
half-right--as a principal ornament. While it is probable that the
original die for this cast-brass plate was sunk for the Albany
organization, the manufacturer would not have hesitated to offer it
for sale to any interested Militia unit.