Please help me identify a military saber -- myArmoury.com

Sancar O.

Hello gentlemen,

This saber is bought by a friend from a local flea market. He asked me to identify it, but my knowledge on European military sabers is quite limited. It is not in a very good shape but looks like a genuine antique to my uneducated eyes. Yet I failed to find origin or pattern for this saber. Though for some reason, it feels really familiar.

Hopefully you guys' deep knowledge on the subject will help me solve this mystery.

The saber looks like it is quite worn out from overuse and got crudely repaired (perhaps on the battlefield?). It is a quite a long and wide blade but relatively thin with no kind of T spine. It has a quite simple triangular cross section with three narrow and shallow fullers near the back. There is no visible secondary bevel on the edge. It is still sharp with no visible major damage to the edge despite its thinness. It feels heavy to hold due to high CoG of the saber that points to cavalry usage.

The guard and the backstrap are made of steel, and quite solid. One of the langets is broken and the steel knuckleguard shows signs of real abuse, serrated from attacks from another sharp object (the romantic in me wants to believe this is due to many swordfights this blade saw, but who knows?) Tang is is hot peened to the hilt. Knuckleguard came loose in time and crudely repaired by a simple nail used as a rivet. The wooden grip is broken and loose.

Overall length : 91 cm
Blade length: 79 cm
Blade Width: 4 cm the bottom, 3.3 cm at the middle, 3.5 cm near the tip
Center of Gravity: 21,5 cm
Thickness: 5 mm at the guard tapers to 3 mm in the middle and to almost 1 mm near the tip

Ralph Grinly · Posted: Wed 25 Mar, 2015 1:28 pm Post subject:

At first glance- it looked like a British M1796 LC sabre..but a closer look showed no 'ears" on the backstrap. Maybe it's one of the many swords inspired by the M1796..possibly European ? I'm pretty sure someone way more knowledgeable than me will chime in soon Happy

Matt Easton · Posted: Thu 26 Mar, 2015 4:45 am Post subject:

It is a variant British 1796 light cavalry sabre hilt, or perhaps a German (Blucher) version (the shape of the langets would support German) which has been mounted with a different blade. The blade is probably German (probably older than the hilt - 18thC) and is similar to some that were exported to India and North Africa and mounted there on locally-hilted swords (eg. tulwars). The marriage between hilt and blade might be an old marriage, but it is not original in my opinion.
regards,
Matt

Sancar O. · Posted: Fri 27 Mar, 2015 5:34 am Post subject:

Thank you Matt and Ralph for your help. In another forum, it has been suggested that the blade is a Solingen-made "three fullered trade blade". What do you think about this theory?

Luka Borscak · Posted: Fri 27 Mar, 2015 5:46 am Post subject:

It might be, as Matt already said.

Matt Easton · Posted: Fri 27 Mar, 2015 6:37 am Post subject:

Yes, very likely - if not Solingen then one of the other German blade making centres.