[D. Nogueira]

Hi to everyone,

I came across these advertising pictures from a local salesman. I do not really intend to buy the item, but for some reason I am curious about it.

Does this seem familiar to anyone? The seller claims this to be an original infantry short sword from Eastern Europe, year 1750/60, and to have a total length of 68 centimeters (That would be around 27 inches).

Does this make sense? Any thoughts? Sadly I do not have better quality pics, just these.
The most "look-alike" weapon I found on the web is a French artillery short sword from around 1830, but I'm not expert on the subject.

(As a sidenote, as some may notice, the blade seems to be engraved with the renowned phrase: "Si vis pacem para bellum")

Thanks a lot.

[Jonathan Hopkins]

I cannot give you any specifics, but I can say that it is not an 18th century weapon. It is a 19th century artillery sidearm. The pattern originated in France but variations appear in armies across the globe. I have not seen one with blade decoration before.

Jonathan

[Joel Chesser]

To me it looks more like a modified version of the American counterpart of the 1831 French sword.

Check out this link. http://arms2armor.com/Swords/1832fart.htm

The site gives a link to a photo and description of the French version of this sword, which also links to the British version.

It appears that this style was designed in France or during or shortly after the French revolution and the reign of Napoleon in response to the Neoclassical movement in which all things classical (Greek and roman) were popular.

I hope this helps in some way.

[D. Nogueira]

Jonathan, Joel,

Thanks for the information! I had my reasons to seriously doubt anything this seller claims, but I wanted to ask the experts.
I was interested in the design, I never honestly saw it before and it looks really old fashioned for a 1831 military issue sword... like a gladius or greek sword revival

[Sean Flynt]