Officer's shoulder belt and pouch : Victorian Mounted Rifles

Officer's brown vegetable-tanned leather shoulder belt with brown leather pouch. The belt is 2 1/4 inches wide as per the' Victoria Dress Regulations 1893' and is made from two sections of leather with a decorative incised (tooled) line running around the edges. At one end, a fabricated brass buckle, slide and tip, which have been polished and engraved with a pattern of flowers and leaves, are threaded onto the shorter piece of leather. The slide joins both pieces of leather and provides adjustment to the length of the belt. A fabricated brass shield and two brass prickers shaped as arrows in quivers are secured through the centre front of the belt. The prickers are attached to two brass chains which are secured to a fabricated brass boss (rose) which is also fastened through the belt. The shield and boss are engraved with the same floral pattern as the other metal fittings. The belt passes through a rectangular brass loop on the pouch and is secured to iself by fastening tear-shaped holes in the ends over brass studs sewn into the belt . The pouch is made of the same brown leather. Overall it measures 6 6/8 inches in width, 3 1/2 inches in height and 1 1/8 inches in depth. The flap of the pouch is encased along its edge with a polished brass strip and is secured with two small brass rivets. The badge of the Victorian Military Forces is affixed to the centre of the flap and depicts a brass garter with the words 'AUT PACE AUT BELLO' (in peace or in war) surmounted by a Queen Victoria pattern crown. At the centre is a square cross with five stars and voided surround. A red morocco leather lined steel insert inside the pouch provides rigidity. A gilt ancanthus leaf pattern cast brass fitting with a ring attached is secured to the pouch. This is in turn attached to a brass ring which is soldered around a fixed brass ring soldered to the rectangular loop. The pouch is closed with a small pointed billet with a hole which fastens over a brass stud in the base. The face and base of the pouch have lines incised into the leather around the edges and in a diagonal cross.

The Victorian Mounted Rifles (VMR) date from the 2nd December 1885 when nine companies were formed under the command of Colonel Tom Price. In 1891 approval was given for a reorganisation into two battalions: the 1st Battalion with its headquarters at Melbourne and the 2nd with headquarters at Ballarat. The VMR were disbanded in 1904. As the motto 'Aut Pace Aut Bello' (introduced in 1886) was replaced with 'Pro Deo et Pro Patria' in 1893, it is likely that the pouch was manufactured before this date.