The roe deer included in this lot come from the Hohenzollern Royal Family. Each item is a roe deer cap mount, approximately 7.5 inches high mounted to an original Black Forest hand carved wood plaque, each marked "Grunewald" (German hunting “schloss” or castle) across the top of the forehead and "2 Oct" and "1891" on the pedicles. The plaques are decorated in oak lead patterns with a Kaiser Wilhelm II monogram badge on the front, approximately 11 x 6.25 inches. These trophies have survived traversing the Atlantic, two World War, and the ravages of time and have been curated over a period of 40 years through descendants of Kaiser Wilhelm II, private collectors, auctions and individuals in Europe. The Royal Hunt Collection has been curated over a period of 40 years, inspired by a friendship with one of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s descendants. While many of the pieces were originally offered for purchase by Royal and Noble family members the collection was augmented by purchases from other private collectors, auctions and individuals. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling both from 1888 until his abdication in 1918. He was the eldest grandson of the British Queen Victoria and was related to many of the monarchs and princes in Europe. In 1888, Wilhelm II dismissed Otto von Bismarck, the current Chancellor, and launched an overhaul of the Empire's foreign affairs, latter dubbed “the new course”. This shift in policies culminated in Wilhelm II’s support for Austria-Hungary during the July Crisis of 1914 and shortly after the First World War Kaiser Wilhelm II was known as an avid hunter and sportsman. According to his game book, he partook in thousands of hunts and killed a total of 78,300 game animals. In 1898 alone, he hunted 897 animals, including 48 red stag, 8 fallow deer, and 2 roe deer.