2nd South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers Officer’s Button by J. Ascher of London

2nd South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers Officer’s Button by J. Ascher of London
A handsome blackened brass 24mm tunic button of the 2nd (South) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, carrying the rare backmark “J. ASCHER, LONDON”. The face shows the strung bugle horn (the universal device of British rifle corps) with the regimental numeral “2” in the loop, surrounded by the legend “SOUTH MIDDLESEX RIFLE VOLUNTEERS” in a raised circlet. This is the standard pattern in use from the corps’ formation in 1859 through to its absorption into the K.R.R.C.
Dating the button
The blackened brass finish, two-piece construction, soldered wire shank, and the survival of the original “Rifle Volunteers” title (rather than “Volunteer Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps”, adopted in 1892) place this firmly in the Victorian period, c.1860 to c.1892. The use of blackened metal rather than gilt was characteristic of rifle regiments throughout the era, deliberately echoing the dark green undress of the rifle volunteers, in contrast to the bright gilt buttons worn by line infantry.