Some close-ups of the etching...

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Proof disc with Urdu (?) cartouche

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EIC Lion

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VR cypher

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Cartouche with officer's initials

A British Pattern 1827 Rifle Officer's Sword, probably made in Germany. Most of the etching has been polished off, sadly, so it is not possible to identify the retailer of the sword. The blade is just under an inch wide at the ricasso, and is 32.5" long. I have not yet weighed it, but it feels about right (regulation weight was not to be less than 1 lb. 15 oz.). Steel hilt with strung bugle decoration, fish skin grip with twisted copper wire. The blade is not sharpened and probably belonged to an officer in a volunteer battalion. No scabbard, but it would have originally had a steel scabbard.

Nice acquisitions this spring Jonathan. It is often the swords we find with a lot of "character" that find happy homes with us.

This thread underlines the importance of durable hosting for images and I apologize for hoping myopera would last forever. i do have the image files for all those blank holes in posts I have made and can repost any of interest (just quote a specific post).

This spring has also seen a couple of more eagles come to my eryie. I am mostly in an order of total chaos right now but have a few pictures of them.

Cheers

GC

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Osborn type "weeping" eagle early 19th century. Possibly cutlered in the US

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A Solingen blade, not at all common on this eagle type

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Type VI Widmann, near his last year and continued by Horstmann [ Download ]

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Devoid of its blue and gilt. A prettier one got away for a song while I was busy. [ Download ]

Thank you, Glen. You have some nice new ones, too!

The sword I got in March does have character, but also an interesting provenance (if I am right about the initials). The P1827 Rifle Officer's Sword was a gift from my wife. She knew I wanted an antique saber to play with (and maybe sharpen) since replicas of military swords fail on so many levels. She found one for a great price, and it is a good solid sword, too, with no play in the hilt and a straight (as in not unnaturally bent) blade. Now I just need to identify the maker's stamp on the guard and I will be a happy collector.

As for image hosting, I will be sad if Photobucket dies.

Here is a French Model 1821 infantry officer sword

It was produced in Klingenthal

the blade is in damascus

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Pierre,
That is a beautiful sword. I love the blade! The photos are excellent, too. Thank you for sharing!

Jonathan

So this sword is a puzzler. I know it's Civil War era-ish for sure; it's W.H. Horstmann & Sons, Philadelphia, as inscribed at the base of the blade. The blade itself is ornately engraved, with "U.S." inscribed partway down (which you can see in the photo). So that's all fairly straight forward. But then we get to the hilt. A simple brass reverse p style hilt with no grip at all. As far as I can tell, this doesn't match any American designs, even pre-1800. The reverse p itself is not really odd, it's just not quite like any standard American or British models I've seen, and the lack of any kind of grip besides the solid brass is weirder still. The sword belongs to friend of mine, and it is family heirloom of sorts. It must be a custom made weapon, but what of the hilt, and why would it have been done this way? Even the scabbard seems wrong. My friend says it is cavalry, and indeed it has all the elements of various models of cavalry sabre, but at the same time all the details don't match a single one. It is not heavy in the slightest, and in fact is quite lively and well balanced in the hand. I apologize for the shafty picture quality, these were sent to me by the swords owner. If anyone can help me out here that would be wonderful. Thanks so much.

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sheathed

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unsheathed

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hilt close-up

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blade close-up

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blade 2

Aldan, you pics rang a bell with me. Though your blade doesn't have any Naval designations, the scabbard and hanger is very naval. Here is something very, very similar.....

http://www.antiqueswordsonline.com/19th-centu...-horstmann

My eagles and some other swords. Some predate the 19th century.

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Cheers

GC

That is a great pic, Glen! I love seeing them nesting together.

A US Model 1860 Cavalry Saber, probably sold by Tomes, Son & Melvain of New York to the Ordnance Department in 1861 or 1862.

Unstamped Nathan Starr NCO sword. Either farmed out or a "example" sword from around 1828.

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I love the way Glen's swords are arranged. So neat. :eek:

Woolley and Deakin HC sword, with scabbard.

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Ottoman cavalry kilij, just under 102cms in scabbard. Sword is 97.5cms, blade is 82cms measured from the peak of the quillon block to the tip of the blade, horn grips with a steel guard and integral knuckle bow and a steel grip strap. The pommel is pierced for a wrist lanyard. European blade (Hungarian?). Single broad fuller to each blade face. Scabbard with steel fittings and double suspension rings with metal spiral stitching.

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I'm a bit late to this, I have recently acquired an 1853 Pattern Sword, no mark on it except some Indian/Arabic letters, having a lot of fun trying to identify it, but no results

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Another 1821 Pattern French Infantry Officer's Sword to add to the mix.

I recently bought this example off ebay and it is the first time I have had the pleasure of examining one closely.

It is beautifully composed with floral motifs on the sweeping brass hilt, a black horn handle with twisted brass wire (presumably to add grip as well as aesthetic pizzaz) and a kinked butt cap which catches the end of the knucklebow and leans into the base of the hand in a semi pistol grip. The angled butt cap together with the overall shape of the handle feels ergonomic and facilitates a natural and precise control.

The blade seems slightly atypical for the type. Based purely on my observation of this example and pictures of the type online, most seem to have been fitted with (as per the exceptionally fine example displayed by Pierre Dobeck above) a blade similar in length and width but with a more pronounced curve and a single edged 'hatchet' point.

I speculate that this example may have been made for a civilian or officer who wanted a version of the type with a slightly more thrust oriented blade. In other details such as the double fuller (one running down the centre of the blade and a narrower trench near the spine) and length (this measures from hilt to tip circa 30 1/4 inches) it appears very similar to the more typical blade type.

This example was never sharpened and is lacking any maker's or military marks, which leads me to believe that it was never used and / or issued if intended for the military. There is movement between both the grip / knucklebow and the tang / blade which re-peening might address.

All in all it seems a very pretty sword which sits confidently in the hand behind a stout, light blade.

The attached pictures are taken from the ebay listing. It looks much better in the flesh.

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A few more pics of the same.....

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