Empire Costume French 1802 Light Cavalry Saber 2017
May 5, 2017 6:02:34 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on May 5, 2017 6:02:34 GMT
Empire Costume French 1802 Light Cavalry Sabre
Background:
About the time of the 200th Waterloo Anniversary Empire Costume owner, Yves Guinhut, started talking about his desire to develop a correct empire light cavalry saber. The ones on the market, notably for exposure being the misnamed French 1830 light cavalry saber. ( I mean, come on, Lynn; the markings on the back blade even says, Imperial manufacturers, Klingenthal, 1813!) The project seemed to languish. All of a sudden, end of last week, here it is. No prep. No warning. What does that forebode?
The light cavalry was the true sinew of the cavalry branch. Significantly more numerous than the heavies. Their missions were more diverse an their character all the more reckless. The "hussar" was a type soldier derived from southern territorial farmers of the Austro-Hungarian boundaries face off to the Ottoman Empire. Settlers accepted land grants conditional on military service against raids and campaigns by the Turks. The Balkan native dress followed mercenaries throughout Europe in the 18th Century.
The Chasseur type soldier of France was a response to exposure to Austrian Hussars. Chasseur means "hunter". Same context as the German, "jaeger". French Chasseur dress was stylistically close to the hussar, but uniform base color was green for all chasseurs.
These units sported different style swords until the consolidated 1802 came out.
Handling an Performance:
This is a rush to press. The sword arrived 12 hours ago. I've got photos and handling time. The analytics chart will have to wait another day. For now, a flurry of pics, followe with some observations:
(1. The fuller depth figure is not actually a depth measurement; it rather states how thick the blade is at the lowest point found using the gauge. 2. The repro has a short ricasso which made that measure a bit awkward. There are no great anomalies between the two sabers, other than the hilt is a bit smaller on the EC-R.)
The pictures tell a great deal. I need to do the analytics to confirm some observations. There are a lot of things about the EC repro that speak against the design:
Cons:
1. Hilt is smaller than the original.
2. Brass buttons on the grip are too big.
3. The langets are too small.
4. The guard bars are too small and compressed.
5. The bow guard ring is mishappen.
6. The blade is missing one of the three inspection marks.
7. The blade 'rake" is too deep. ( An antique saber will not fit in this scabbard because of the rake.)
(There is nothing wrong with the ring mounts of the repro: my original uses a Russian scabbard.)
On the other hand:
Pros:
1. If you put a hood on your head and someone handed you the two swords, one at a time, then asked you to choose which one is the original: you'd probably guess WRONG!
The weight, balance and handling of the two sabers are equal. I actually think the repro is a bit crisper than the original. With the sword knot both sabers weigh 2.85 lbs. I took some thickness readings with my calipers on the backblades of both swords. The two blades have equivalent tapers. Never held a repro with an historic taper before.
Conclusion
Empire Costume doesn't do their own sharpening. Empire Costume will never admit where the saber was done. With all the nits on design shortcomings I'd give it a 4/5 on the old scale. Some might find that generous with all the bugs. But the performance figures on this saber are off the chart. True historical performance! Unheard of!
France to Virginia cost me 300.00 euros. EC charges 92 euros to ship to the US. That 92 is included in the charge.
Background:
About the time of the 200th Waterloo Anniversary Empire Costume owner, Yves Guinhut, started talking about his desire to develop a correct empire light cavalry saber. The ones on the market, notably for exposure being the misnamed French 1830 light cavalry saber. ( I mean, come on, Lynn; the markings on the back blade even says, Imperial manufacturers, Klingenthal, 1813!) The project seemed to languish. All of a sudden, end of last week, here it is. No prep. No warning. What does that forebode?
The light cavalry was the true sinew of the cavalry branch. Significantly more numerous than the heavies. Their missions were more diverse an their character all the more reckless. The "hussar" was a type soldier derived from southern territorial farmers of the Austro-Hungarian boundaries face off to the Ottoman Empire. Settlers accepted land grants conditional on military service against raids and campaigns by the Turks. The Balkan native dress followed mercenaries throughout Europe in the 18th Century.
The Chasseur type soldier of France was a response to exposure to Austrian Hussars. Chasseur means "hunter". Same context as the German, "jaeger". French Chasseur dress was stylistically close to the hussar, but uniform base color was green for all chasseurs.
These units sported different style swords until the consolidated 1802 came out.
Handling an Performance:
This is a rush to press. The sword arrived 12 hours ago. I've got photos and handling time. The analytics chart will have to wait another day. For now, a flurry of pics, followe with some observations:
(1. The fuller depth figure is not actually a depth measurement; it rather states how thick the blade is at the lowest point found using the gauge. 2. The repro has a short ricasso which made that measure a bit awkward. There are no great anomalies between the two sabers, other than the hilt is a bit smaller on the EC-R.)
The pictures tell a great deal. I need to do the analytics to confirm some observations. There are a lot of things about the EC repro that speak against the design:
Cons:
1. Hilt is smaller than the original.
2. Brass buttons on the grip are too big.
3. The langets are too small.
4. The guard bars are too small and compressed.
5. The bow guard ring is mishappen.
6. The blade is missing one of the three inspection marks.
7. The blade 'rake" is too deep. ( An antique saber will not fit in this scabbard because of the rake.)
(There is nothing wrong with the ring mounts of the repro: my original uses a Russian scabbard.)
On the other hand:
Pros:
1. If you put a hood on your head and someone handed you the two swords, one at a time, then asked you to choose which one is the original: you'd probably guess WRONG!
The weight, balance and handling of the two sabers are equal. I actually think the repro is a bit crisper than the original. With the sword knot both sabers weigh 2.85 lbs. I took some thickness readings with my calipers on the backblades of both swords. The two blades have equivalent tapers. Never held a repro with an historic taper before.
Conclusion
Empire Costume doesn't do their own sharpening. Empire Costume will never admit where the saber was done. With all the nits on design shortcomings I'd give it a 4/5 on the old scale. Some might find that generous with all the bugs. But the performance figures on this saber are off the chart. True historical performance! Unheard of!
France to Virginia cost me 300.00 euros. EC charges 92 euros to ship to the US. That 92 is included in the charge.