1814: Two Lifeguard Sabers from WeaponEdge India
Dec 19, 2011 5:29:09 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 19, 2011 5:29:09 GMT
1814: Two Lifeguard Sabers from WeaponEdge India
INTRODUCTION
I’ve owned the British Lifeguards Officers 1814 Dress Sword for a couple of years. Came with my first big buy from Rob Sanford’s Stromlo Swords. For no particular reason it fell by the wayside and never got a write up. Just took delivery of the WE interpretation of the rare French Garde Du Corps 1814 saber developed for the restored House Guards of Louis XVIII on the ouster of Napoleon. I have some auction house photos of old sales of these rare swords. Both area little too rich for my budget. Have only seen one Brit 1814 up for sale. $8,000.00. Going rate for the French is about $5,000.00.
DISCLAIMER
Swords reviewed here were purchased by the author. No considerations were offered by the retailer or the manufacturer for presentation of these swords.
HISTORY
British Life Guards: In their modern form the Lifeguards began their existence as a service company of emigrant English gentlemen raised by exiled CharlesII to assist the Spanish fighting against Oliver Cromwell. These early royal personal service companies transitioned to British Army regimentation starting in 1756 and were formally named 1st and 2d Lifeguards in 1788. Napoleonic period uniforms were fairly practical Dragoon types, but usually of above average quality. The 1796 standardization regs for swords dictated a dress and field service sword for the heavies. The 1814 Dress Sword was the first approved modification for the ‘96s.
French Garde Du Corps Du Roi: French household troops have a tradition dating back to the 15th Century, however the “bodyguards companies of the King, like their British counterpart, date from the 17th Century. Also a regiment comprised of gentlemen, it was disbanded in 1791, and reinstated in 1814 for Louis XVIII. Dissolved during the 100 Days, it then continued in service until 1830.
While the British sword here reviewed is a “dress” type, the French GdC saber was a undress working weapon used by both the rank and file of the regiment.
The Uniform of the 1814 GdC didn’t wander far from Imperial Guard style. Jacket was dark blue with red facings. Headgear was the Grenadier bearskin. Post Waterloo, the GdC adopted a style more along the lines of the old lancer dress.
WEAPONS CHARACTERISTICS
Blades:
The French Saber utilizes the same Montmorency styled blades introduced into the Napoleonic Guards in 1810 and 1812. Weaponedge has represented these in a number of sabers. They have used a 1.25 inch baseline for the breadth of the blade. According to Michel Petard these swords had a 1.12 in breadth. The difference is only 1/8th of an inch, but along the length of a 37 inch blade that aggregates a lot of mass and weight. The reason that the French 1816 officers saber has been put here for comparison is because it has the proper sized Montmorency blade for the sake of comparison.
The British 1814 employs an interpretation of the French Officer of Cuirassier sword blade. According to Robson the 1814 only weighs 2.2 lbs; rather than the line weight of 3 lbs. Here the WE used their old French Dragoon blade and have produced a 3 lbs sword.
Hilts:
The French 4 bar half basket with Bourbon sealed plate has the right historical look. Castings are heavy. The hilt has a tendency to “pull” when cutting.
The Brit is uncomfortably cramped in scale making proper application of the sword as a point weapon impracticable.
Grips:
French originals were shark skinned with silver wire which you won’t see on a WE. With weight bias slightly more to the blade on this 3 lb weapon, the grip doesn’t feel as secure as one would like.
The British is slightly closer in fit than the French, and with a tighter basket handling is very limited. That and the outrageous CoB.
Scabbards:
The French GdC of 1814 has a soft leather and brass fittings scabbard, consistent with the 1814 period. Later GdC scabbards were steel.
The Brit is an accurate copy for the historic sword.
Handling:
The Original French 1816 Line Cavalry Officer Saber is the yardstick for how one would expect these two swords to handle given what is known about their characteristics. The historic saber has a fairly neutral balance which promotes fast movement of the saber, easy point control, and a taper and dynamics that offers a fairly stiff blade in spite of aggressive control of weight.
Neither Weaponedge sword performs this well. Both are ahistoric in terms of their performance.
Conclusion:
Both of these swords are rare historic pieces well removed from what the average collector will have the resources to consider purchasing. Weaponedge provides a weapons grade replica with reasonable accuracy and a very good level of fit and finish for their pricepoint.
That is an incentive to buy. But once again these representations are not sufficiently engineered to perform at anything likened to their originals.
I’m keeping the basic report a little less picture saturated than usual. ( For me anyway. ) A path to my photobucket picture display is provided should you wish to see what else is in the file:
s747.photobucket.com/albums/xx11 ... ?start=all
INTRODUCTION
I’ve owned the British Lifeguards Officers 1814 Dress Sword for a couple of years. Came with my first big buy from Rob Sanford’s Stromlo Swords. For no particular reason it fell by the wayside and never got a write up. Just took delivery of the WE interpretation of the rare French Garde Du Corps 1814 saber developed for the restored House Guards of Louis XVIII on the ouster of Napoleon. I have some auction house photos of old sales of these rare swords. Both area little too rich for my budget. Have only seen one Brit 1814 up for sale. $8,000.00. Going rate for the French is about $5,000.00.
DISCLAIMER
Swords reviewed here were purchased by the author. No considerations were offered by the retailer or the manufacturer for presentation of these swords.
HISTORY
British Life Guards: In their modern form the Lifeguards began their existence as a service company of emigrant English gentlemen raised by exiled CharlesII to assist the Spanish fighting against Oliver Cromwell. These early royal personal service companies transitioned to British Army regimentation starting in 1756 and were formally named 1st and 2d Lifeguards in 1788. Napoleonic period uniforms were fairly practical Dragoon types, but usually of above average quality. The 1796 standardization regs for swords dictated a dress and field service sword for the heavies. The 1814 Dress Sword was the first approved modification for the ‘96s.
French Garde Du Corps Du Roi: French household troops have a tradition dating back to the 15th Century, however the “bodyguards companies of the King, like their British counterpart, date from the 17th Century. Also a regiment comprised of gentlemen, it was disbanded in 1791, and reinstated in 1814 for Louis XVIII. Dissolved during the 100 Days, it then continued in service until 1830.
While the British sword here reviewed is a “dress” type, the French GdC saber was a undress working weapon used by both the rank and file of the regiment.
The Uniform of the 1814 GdC didn’t wander far from Imperial Guard style. Jacket was dark blue with red facings. Headgear was the Grenadier bearskin. Post Waterloo, the GdC adopted a style more along the lines of the old lancer dress.
WEAPONS CHARACTERISTICS
Blades:
The French Saber utilizes the same Montmorency styled blades introduced into the Napoleonic Guards in 1810 and 1812. Weaponedge has represented these in a number of sabers. They have used a 1.25 inch baseline for the breadth of the blade. According to Michel Petard these swords had a 1.12 in breadth. The difference is only 1/8th of an inch, but along the length of a 37 inch blade that aggregates a lot of mass and weight. The reason that the French 1816 officers saber has been put here for comparison is because it has the proper sized Montmorency blade for the sake of comparison.
The British 1814 employs an interpretation of the French Officer of Cuirassier sword blade. According to Robson the 1814 only weighs 2.2 lbs; rather than the line weight of 3 lbs. Here the WE used their old French Dragoon blade and have produced a 3 lbs sword.
Hilts:
The French 4 bar half basket with Bourbon sealed plate has the right historical look. Castings are heavy. The hilt has a tendency to “pull” when cutting.
The Brit is uncomfortably cramped in scale making proper application of the sword as a point weapon impracticable.
Grips:
French originals were shark skinned with silver wire which you won’t see on a WE. With weight bias slightly more to the blade on this 3 lb weapon, the grip doesn’t feel as secure as one would like.
The British is slightly closer in fit than the French, and with a tighter basket handling is very limited. That and the outrageous CoB.
Scabbards:
The French GdC of 1814 has a soft leather and brass fittings scabbard, consistent with the 1814 period. Later GdC scabbards were steel.
The Brit is an accurate copy for the historic sword.
Handling:
The Original French 1816 Line Cavalry Officer Saber is the yardstick for how one would expect these two swords to handle given what is known about their characteristics. The historic saber has a fairly neutral balance which promotes fast movement of the saber, easy point control, and a taper and dynamics that offers a fairly stiff blade in spite of aggressive control of weight.
Neither Weaponedge sword performs this well. Both are ahistoric in terms of their performance.
Conclusion:
Both of these swords are rare historic pieces well removed from what the average collector will have the resources to consider purchasing. Weaponedge provides a weapons grade replica with reasonable accuracy and a very good level of fit and finish for their pricepoint.
That is an incentive to buy. But once again these representations are not sufficiently engineered to perform at anything likened to their originals.
I’m keeping the basic report a little less picture saturated than usual. ( For me anyway. ) A path to my photobucket picture display is provided should you wish to see what else is in the file:
s747.photobucket.com/albums/xx11 ... ?start=all
Loved the pic's!
