An Italian Generals sabre and an M 1833 Albertina.
Jun 2, 2018 20:22:16 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Jun 2, 2018 20:22:16 GMT
Introduction.
In the notes you will find diverse and I hope interesting pages where the Risorgimento is discussed in more detail than I ever could, so you can, if you are so inclined, study that interesting time in modern Italian history at your leisure.
Of course the links to threads by our SBG luminaries Dave Kelly and Pino are there too. The link in Pinos thread is dead, which is a shame, since it gave us access to a good online data source on Italian weaponry.
There seems to be some confusion as to the appropriate label for this Generals sabre.
Pino wants it to be a Foot Artillery Generals sabre. Others claim it to be a Horse Artillery Generals sabre. Though as far as the design goes this sabre seems to be quite close to the Artillery sabres of the M1833 line, I could not find the connection to Generals or Superior Officers anywhere in the Artillery section of the Oldswords database. What I did find though, was the label ,, M1833 sabre for Generals and Superior Officers'' stuck on a sabre much like this one. This would make it some sort of regulation Superior Officers sabre for all services.
As this makes most sense in my view, I will stick with this label until further notice.
The M1833 Generals and Superior Officers sabre.
It p!sses me off thinking about all that wasted energy, materials and effort.
This could have been a hell of a nice sabre, much like the French M1829.
Maybe I have the lemon in the bunch, but I do not hold my breath.
Herr W. Clauberg from Solingen, the maker of this sabre, is he to blame for cutting so many corners?
The stamp on the ricasso just states: ,,W. Clauberg '' by the way. There are no other indicators as to which Clauberg this was meant to be. Suffice to say that the sabre was probably made after 1847.
The problem with this one is that it has a wet spaghetti good for nothing much too flexible waste of good steel blade. The hilt is very well done. Sturdy, with a good back strap with incorporated thumb rest and a strong guard and knuckle bow assembly, just like on the regular M1833 Artillery sabres.
It looked the part in the sellers pictures alright, but that blade could have been made of wet carton.
The scabbard does not and never had liners. The rudimentary mouthpiece cannot accommodate them. There is just this one tiny clip on the inside.
And what makes it even worse, is that the thing got nickel plated allover at one time. There are so many scratches and file marks under the plate, it is just awful.
It looks like many polishing stages were skipped on entirely.
Which brings us to the next interesting item. The nickel plate process was only ready for the industry shortly after 1870. The regulations of 1855 gave us a new standard Italian Officers model. So what's with all the plating? If you look at the diversity and extravagance of privately ordered Italian Officers sabres during the 19th century, I was able to download a few pictures from an Italian auction house catalogue, one would suspect this, in comparison, rather unimposing regulation sabre for Generals and high ranking Officers to have lived from 1833 to 1855 or there abouts. It does not make sense to me to order this M1833 after 1870.
Even after 1855 one could not officially carry this sabre anymore.
Work.
So, apart from cursing, I hate nickel plate because it prohibits the removal of bad spots and a true inspection, I had nothing to do but to clean the sabre with Mothers, jack the blade up a bit and make a new washer. I had to clean the sabre straps that came with the sabre by hand as they are leather backed. I also cleaned the sword knot it came with. Just dunked it in some Biotex and hand warm water.
Decades of accumulated dust mixed with fire and candle soot vanished in the blink of an eye, though the bullion is still somewhat dark. The cord is frayed, which gives us a chance to know what is under the bullion cover. It seems the strap is made up of numerous strands of what looks like yellow silk. Very strong indeed.
The sword knot is a common model for Officers, fashionable world wide at the time. There is nothing to indicate its connection to a particular Italian state.
The sabre straps are made from silver bullion with a blue line in the middle.
These may be state colours, but I do not know which Italian state it could be.
The sabre blade does not have a state crest etch or other defining marks, so it is definitely not a Savoy sabre. Those had the Savoy Eagle holding a shield under the Savoy crown emblem.
Handling.
,,This things only function in life is to whack the behind of your inamorata with it''.
( General Uhlan ,, Il Terribile '' l'Olandese on the eve of the Battle of Brescia 1247 AD.)
Well, that would be a little unfair. What is infuriating though, is that the balance is just right. It handles just fine, though it is a bit too light to pack much punch. Pity.
The numbers.
Weight OA: 1115 grams.
Weight sabre: 692 gram.
Length OA: 94 cm.
Length sabre: 91.5 cm.
Length blade: 78.5 cm.
Width blade: 32 cm.
Thickness blade: 9 mm.
POB: 14.7 cm from the guard.
Conclusion.
So there we are. Ivory grip and all.
The nickel plate, now cleaned, shines again, aside from some dark spots on the blade and some minor lifting on the pommel cap. Together with its sword knot and the straps it looks like a pleasing package indeed.
Though it was probably meant to be only ceremonial, a symbol of rank, a part of the uniform, it could easily have been much more. Too bad.
I hope the regular M1833 Artillery line fares better.
An Italian M1833 Albertina Officers dress sword.
Now, this is something else. This is an Italian design icon on par with the Bugatti and certain products of the Alessi company. And Signora Claudia Cardinale of course. May God rest her soul.
Certainly for the period, but even now, the hilt looks very modern to my eyes.
There are those ,, experts '' that want to make us believe the Albertina is nothing more than a glorified Prussian M1816 Degen. I say that is nonsense.
The only connection that there might be is that both are military swords.
The Albertina is unique. It stands out everywhere.
Germans may be able to build it, but never will be able to design those graceful lines so full of tension.
But don't be fooled by all the arty farty design talk. The original Savoy version, though intended only to be a dress sword, is open for business. Its standard blade, engraved with the Savoy emblem, is stiff as a poker and it will gut anything without effort.
The Albertina also has the first blade fitted with the interesting double fuller foible section, later seen on the Italian M1855.
I found an ,,official'' description in Italian and translated it via Google Translate:
,, Defined commonly as "Albertina" having been adopted under the reign of Charles Albert, this sword is the most elegant among the white weapons supplied to the Piedmontese army before the middle of the 1800's. The Regulations of 25 June 1833 prescribed it "for all the officers who dress the dress along whatever the weapon and the grade and even if they served on horseback". The weapon also equipped the Marshals on foot and on horseback when they were out of service and on foot. The furnishing was in tinsel or in other metal, with the handle covered in silver sheet. The blade, straight, was 27-28 mm wide at the heel and 13 towards the tip. ''
This last sentence I have to take with a grain of salt. Both blades I have are 20 mm wide.
The gilded brass hilt can easily be taken apart by unscrewing the large knob on top of the pommel so another blade can be used or damaged parts exchanged. The ergonomic finger loop is large enough to accommodate two gloved fingers.
In doing so handling is much improved and makes this sword very precise long bladed stiletto.
The silver sheet covered grip is ribbed, but the ribs are low and the metal may interfere with a secure hold. Also, as with most of the breed, the grip is almost cylindrical and is really much too slender to fill the hand in hammer grip.
With two fingers through the loop and the thumb under the guillon, the hold is secured and the blade is prevented from turning. It is glued to the hand, locked in. It is really a delight to play with this sword when held in this way.
As far as I understand it, there is not much to find on the internet about Italian weaponry, the first generation of this sword had a black leather scabbard with gild brass furniture. Generation two had a black lacquered sheet metal scabbard, but carried over the furniture from the first generation. Generation three, that would be from around 1850, kept the metal scabbard, but now it was polished bright and the old furniture was dispensed off. It had just the two very standard ring mounts. The only carryover was that these simple mounts were again made from brass, which may or may not have been gilded.
Albertinas for the Medical Corps.
Albertina with a blue and gild Spadroon blade.
Albertina with an interesting blade.
Albertina ,, Garde du Corps ''.
Albertina with a first gen. leather scabbard.
Albertina with the very stiff ,, standard Savoy '' blade.
The Albertina with the Savoy crest and the short fuller blade is the best of the two blades I have. As I said above, the Savoy is very stiff and fully rapier like functional.
If one wants to improve ones target score, this is the one to look for.
The Albertina I present here though has a typical Spadroon blade, which is a great let down.
There is nothing on the blade to suggest where it came from. The French style blade etch features a cannon as only weapon, so it seems probable this one was the property of an Artillery Officer. It is definitely not Savoy as the crest is missing.
Its blade is floppy as all hell. It is so bad that I had the impression it would fold on me when I was trying to penetrate its shipping carton with it.
Where the Savoy has a long flat section and a short fuller, this one has the Spadroon like long fuller. The width and thickness of the blades of the two are exactly the same, but the Savoy has the shorter blade at 79.5 cm.
There is no forge stamp on the ricasso. The Savoy also does not have it.
But the tang is stamped PD H1. My Bavarian Landwehr sabre has PD ST stamped on the tang and this one was made by Weyersberg.
So, probably, the Albertina Spadroon was made by Weyersberg too.
Really, if you want a very good precise light target trainer go find a Savoy Albertina.
Hang a ping pong ball from the ceiling and start jabbing. You'll see soon enough how good it can be.
What makes this hilt design even more desirable is that it is open to customizing to a incredible degree. Look at this one here:
A word of caution.
The grips proper are made from wood and most will have shrunk a bit.
As we have to deal with a pressure fit here, in case the grip has shrunk, you really should insert a washer on top of the grip. It will be covered by the top ferrule.
If you don't, the pommel flange will press down on this ferrule and its soldered seam could burst open. This had already happened on mine.
If you'd like to use a Savoy for practise I advise to make a new grip or to get one from Darkwood Armoury anyway. The silver sheet grip cover may have been sturdy enough some 170 years ago, but now it is too fragile for regular use.
Work.
To make this ,, Spadroon '' presentable I only had to clean the hilt parts with white tooth paste, clean and lightly polish the blade and make a new felt washer.
The scabbard got a good going over. The black lacquer used at the time was linseed oil based, so one can treat it just like any regular Alkyd resin based black metal paint. Go for satin gloss. Dents and small chips are easily repaired with ( epoxy) filler.
To protect your work I would advise to give it 1 or 2 coats of satin gloss Alkyd based clear lacquer and polish it down a bit with fine steel wool after a couple of days hardening. The effect will be indistinct from the old linseed paint sheen.
Be very careful with these scabbards. The sheet metal is very thin and due to this and its rectangular section it will bend or dent easily. Since the linseed oil paint was applied directly to the white metal it will chip right off when under stress. So, if your scabbard is unsightly and you want to restore it, you know what to do.
The sword knot is a somewhat smallish gold bullion knot of acorn design common in the Anglo-Germanic sphere at the time. It is perfect for this second generation sword.
It displays the House of Savoy crown though.
This one I also soaked in some Biotex. With sterling results I might add.
What came off the knot looked very much like olive oil soup.
The numbers.
Weight OA: 903 grams.
Weight sword: 603 grams.
Length OA: 98.5 cm.
Length sword: 97.5 cm.
Length blade: 82.5 cm
Width: 20 mm.
Thickness: 8.25 mm.
POB: 9.5 cm.
Conclusion.
A sabre and a sword from about the same time in Italian history.
One is a ceremonial swaggering loud mouth waist of resources and tax money trying to impersonate a real sabre and the other is a real weapon disguised as an Officers dress sword.
If one sticks with the Savoy blade at least.
I find stuff like this funny. Glad to have them.
Cheers.
Notes.
This you have to see. Beautiful miniatures!! BibliOdyssey: The House of Savoy: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-house-of-savoy.html
House of Savoy | European dynasty | Britannica.com: www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Savoy
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Savoy: www.newadvent.org/cathen/13492a.htm
History of the House of Savoy - Regalis: www.regalis.com/reg/savhistory.htm
Charles Albert of Sardinia - WikiVisually: wikivisually.com/wiki/Charles_Albert_of_Sardinia
Charles Albert of Sardinia - Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Albert_of_Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia - HowlingPixel: howlingpixel.com/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sardinia
First Italian War of Independence - Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Italian_War_of_Independence
THE ITALIAN WARS OF INDEPENDENCE: orgasm of idiocy: heitalianwarsofindependence.blogspot.com/2010/11/orgasm-of-idiocy.html
Google Translate: Collezioni-f: rivista multimediale: translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collezioni-f.it%2Findex.html&edit-text=
Italian Cavalry Officer LC Saber 1864 | SBG Sword Forum: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/53176/italian-cavalry-officer-saber-1864?page=1
Italian Model 1855 officer sword | SBG Sword Forum: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/53431/italian-model-1855-officer-sword