Young musician playing the ophicleide General view - Without frame

It is difficult to identify the unit to which this musician belongs. Despite the (distant) resemblance of his uniform to that of the mounted artillery of the July Monarchy, in all likelihood, he would have been part of a company of the mounted artillery of the National Guard.
In the regular army, you would find:
- white leathers (here, they are black);
- their unit number on the headpiece, underneath crossed cannons (here, it is a grenade);
- a plated belt (here, there is a belt with medallions, like that worn by officers of the regular army; it was not unusual to find standard guards in the National Guard who wore equipment inspired by that of their officers);
- a collar in the same color as the background of their clothing, with scarlet piping (here, it is a scarlet collar);
- a V-shaped stripe on each side of the shako (absent here).
Furthermore, units of the regular army did not have scarlet piping underneath the braid of their shako.
An artilleryman from the regular army would carry a sword, not a broadsword (here, the broadsword depicted matches the model that would be used by the infantry, according to the regulations of 1831).