rustywings Posted September 27, 2014 Share #1 Posted September 27, 2014 Here's a nicely detailed WWII era USAAF bullion Flight Surgeon wing which I believe is CBI made... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted September 27, 2014 Close up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share #3 Posted September 27, 2014 Angle shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share #4 Posted September 27, 2014 Opposite angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted September 27, 2014 The back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Costa Posted September 27, 2014 Share #6 Posted September 27, 2014 amazing how its made. real quality work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingcommander Posted September 27, 2014 Share #7 Posted September 27, 2014 Gorgeous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted September 27, 2014 Share #8 Posted September 27, 2014 Outstanding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted September 28, 2014 Share #9 Posted September 28, 2014 Man that thing is beautiful.The workmanship is superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted September 28, 2014 Share #10 Posted September 28, 2014 Beautiful wing! Thanks for the great photos. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 28, 2014 Share #11 Posted September 28, 2014 Beautiful, beautiful righteous wing! Those "knotted" (for the lack of a better term) bullion lengths like on the wingtips though don't strike me as CBI though..I most definitely could be wrong (and probably am!) but I just haven't seen that type of bullion work from the CBI before. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share #12 Posted September 29, 2014 Gents, I appreciate your responses. Dave, I'm not stating with certainty this Flight Surgeon wing is CBI made. But I have an idea on the topic which took years to develop regarding this specific type of bullion thread design...and I'd be happy to share it. Many years ago I bought this five inch wide oversize bullion Pilot wing which was sewn directly onto a piece of black velvet-like material. At the time, I bought this Pilot wing with the belief it was a nice post WWI to early 1920's classic oversize wing which was fairly common for that time frame. It compared favorably to other known 4 to 5 inch examples from the 1920's...with the exception this bullion design and superior craftsmanship was unlike any other example I had handled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share #13 Posted September 29, 2014 Fast forward to a military show I attended in the mid-1990's, when I ran across a women's clutch-purse with a nice bullion CBI patch sewn directly to the black velvet-like material on one side...and a silver bullion USAAF prop/wing design sewn on the other side. The type of uniquely knotted bullion used on the purse was identical to the bullion used on both these wings. The purse was made in New Delhi during WWII and apparently sent home to a loved one. This is when I formed doubts that my Pilot wing was from the 1920's. Since seeing the purse, I've run across a CBI made cosmetic bag, a pillow sham and the Flight Surgeon wings which all exhibited the identical type of bullion work. I understand most bullion wings made in China, Burma & India were not of the same quality as seen in these badges. I suspect there's likely a British connection to the shop which produced these fine artifacts in India. Compare the common characteristics in the type of bullion used in these two badges: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share #14 Posted September 29, 2014 Comparison shot of the unique bullion used... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share #15 Posted September 29, 2014 Another shot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffP Posted September 29, 2014 Share #16 Posted September 29, 2014 Russ, Congratulations for getting that beautiful, highly detailed bullion Flight Surgeon wing for your collection. With regard to the very wide pilot wing with similar detailing that you also show in this thread and provided you have not already seen it, here is a WWII Command Pilot wing that featured the same style bullion embroidery work. It was from the Norm Flayderman collection and measured 4 3/4" wide wing tip to wing tip. Due to the width of both the Pilot and Command Pilot wings, they would never have been worn on a uniform but it would be a fair bet and say the same shop and/or crafts person was instrumental with embroidering all three of these very special wings. Kind regards, Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 29, 2014 Share #17 Posted September 29, 2014 Now THAT is interesting! I would have most definitely said that the wide wings were 20s or 30s...but now looking at the others...I've sure learned something new! I'd love to see any other examples if people have them...not to hijack the thread, but I've seen a lot of bullion wings over the years and I'll say that this is definitely a twist for me. Never stop learning!!! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share #18 Posted September 30, 2014 Cliff, thank you for posting your handsome bullion Command Pilot wing. You never let me down when it comes to sharing images of rare pieces pertinent to the topic! Your wing is only the third example I've seen using this technique in embroidered bullion. And they certainly do look like they're from the same source. I agree with Dave...I'd sure like to see the membership post photos of similar examples! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffP Posted September 30, 2014 Share #19 Posted September 30, 2014 Now THAT is interesting! I would have most definitely said that the wide wings were 20s or 30s...but now looking at the others...I've sure learned something new! I'd love to see any other examples if people have them...not to hijack the thread, but I've seen a lot of bullion wings over the years and I'll say that this is definitely a twist for me. Never stop learning!!! Dave Dave, You are so right! What makes this hobby so fascinating is we will ever stop learning something new about it. A perfect example would be Russ Wilson who has collected for over half his life to assemble one of the premier collections of American military wings in the world. . . and yet he continues to make remarkable new discoveries. Thank you both for encouraging other members of the Forum to share with us additional examples of what can only be described as an extremely rare and beautiful form of bullion wing badge embroidery. Lets hope what has been shown so far is only the beginning. cp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted September 30, 2014 Share #20 Posted September 30, 2014 Years ago at one of the Great Western Gun Shows I walked in on a Friday and saw a guy selling a beautiful black velvet woman's purse. On the flap was an extra large bullion command pilot wing land on the back was a bullion CBI patch (in just silver bullion) and some bullion fancy scroll work. The wing was just like the one shown. The dealer was asking about 100$ for the purse. On the next day, the purse was gone but at the next table was a beautiful extra-large bullion wing and variation CBI patch its own special riker's mount (according to tag, the patch/wing said the set was a rare variation of bullion that had belonged to the to CO of a famous "flying tiger" squadron). You could still see the excess fabric. The dealer was asking about 250$ for the set. The next day, sewn on a nicely named USAAF jacket, was an extra-large bullion wing and "super-rare variation" CBI patch, a nice ribbon bar, a ricker's mount of medals and some rank insignia and a squadron patch (which may have been a fake). The dealer was asking about 1000$ for the grouping. True story. An interesting fact is that during the 20's and 30's the British (and especially India) were major textile and cloth manufacturers, including bullion. Bullion work was made on large machines and it isn't surprising that during the war, India continued to turn out the highest quality bullion work. Lovely wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted September 30, 2014 Share #21 Posted September 30, 2014 I wonder if the purse I saw at the Great Western (and its rapid evolution to a rare variation) and Russ' purse were the same? Apparently, these type of purses were relatively common and were made well after the war ended. I did a quick internet search and found this on (with a CBI patch but without the wing). This one was apparently made in New Dehli. You can really see the high quality bullion workmanship. Ironically, I would expect a woman's purse like this to actually be of less value than the patch all by itself. One has to wonder how many of these purses were "snipped" later by collectors. Its almost like "de-patching" a uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share #22 Posted September 30, 2014 Check out this CBI-made bullion Air Crew wings. Even though the bullion pattern is not the same as the three examples posted above, this wing MAY have come from the same stable. Check out the back and see the same gray material and sewing pattern as used in the Pilot wing...as well as the same type of rough cheesecloth used on the Flight Surgeon wing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share #23 Posted September 30, 2014 The lighting is a little different...but the gray material and sewing pattern closely resembles what I see on the back of the bullion Pilot wing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share #24 Posted September 5, 2020 Picking up where we left off six years ago... There's a current ebay auction (#283541135986) offering a WWII era CBI-made women's black velvet clutch purse with a nearly identical oversize embroidered bullion Command Pilot wing, as illustrated above. That unique and very detailed bullion knot design is again prevalent. (FYI, I have no connection or relationship with that ebay listing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share #25 Posted September 5, 2020 Here's an image of the manufacturer's label sewn inside the clutch-purse. I wonder how many other high-quality bullion USAAF aerial ratings were made by this India/Egypt company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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