The cossacks are here! Shown are the Don Cossacks in their cap and short-tunic uniform.
They’re in the web store and ready to order. There are Circassian cossacks and Turcomen as well.
The inspiration for these figures comes from a variety of sources. The Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms of the New York Public Library (available online) contains a lot of 19th century Russian uniforms. In addition, there are several Russian painters of military subjects, former military officers themselves, who painted Balkans and Central Asian subjects. Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin and Nikolai N. Karazin are the best!
The Turkestan Album–also in the NYPL collection–is another great source. One volume consists of portraits of soldiers who had received medals during theconquest of Turkestan. They are usually, but not always, dressed in their finest. Another volume has pictures of the cities the Russians had conquered.
Many of the pictures also contain Central Asian subjects. A good, readily available source is Ian Heath’s book on Central Asia from Foundry press.