Empire Costume "Grenadier a cheval de la garde" Sabre
Oct 15, 2018 4:26:06 GMT
Post by Afoo on Oct 15, 2018 4:26:06 GMT
EC Grenadier horse guards sword (top) compared to an 1822LC tmre 1882 (bottom)
My interest in this sword stems mainly from its aesthetics, as the Napoleonic wars falls a bit before my main area of interest. As such, this section will lean heavily upon a few references and will be relatively brief.
Calling the horse Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard (Grenadier a cheval de la garde) an elite formation in Napoleon’s Imperial Guard is a bit of an understatement. More fitting would be to call them THE elite formation, being the senior heavy cavalry regiment of the old guard – which is the Napoleonic military equivalent of holding an M.D. PhD J.D MBA. They were the most privileged and exclusive unit with a compliment of just over 1000 men at any one time, many of whom played a notable part in numerous conflicts and engagements across the Napoleonic wars from Iberia to Siberia.
The illustrious nature of the Grenadiers is conveyed in their sabre design. They were initially issued with a straight-bladed weapon, which was replaced by a slightly curved sabre in 1806. Both versions feature a flared hilt decorated with the flaming grenade emblem, though I seriously question the feasibility of tossing flaming grenades from horses. The post-1806 version is available from both Universal and Empire Costume featuring the grenade hilt coupled with a menacing Montmorency blade almost one meter in length housed in a brass and leather scabbard
Post-1806 Sabre (Universal) Note that I am reviewing the EMPIRE COSTUME version
The hilt
The hilt of this weapon was what appealed to me the most. It is in essence a 3-bar hilt featuring the grenade crest. However, its proportions are more comparable to the 4-bar hilts seen in the later 1822/1854 line cavalry swords. The hilt is actually only 3.5 inches wide, but it extends much further down the back of your hand to give excellent protection – almost like a half basket hilt.
Hand protection offered by the EC. 1822 LC in background
The decoration is extremely well done – the flaming grenade has great detail, and the bars and other structural elements are well formed, with well defined ridges and valleys. The front “face” of the guard also features crisp detailing, unlike the Universal equivalent which employs a slab-sided blank square which looks like it was leftover from another project. The lack of definition and detailing on the other structural elements puts the Universal product further behind the Empire Costume offering.
Detail of the Empire Costume (left) compared to the Universal (right). Sad
This trend extends towards the grip, which is much better sculpted on the EC version, with smooth elegant lines which not only look good, but make the sabre very comfortable in the hand. The point falls very naturally in line and the grip gives good support without restricting maneuverability.
Grip of the EC (top) compared to an original 1822 LC. The 1822 is more comfortable, but not by much. Great care has definitely been put into the EC grip
One issue I have with the EC product is its construction. On my example, the knuckle-bow is not fully inserted into the pommel cap. This is not a major issue since the rest of the construction seems solid. I e-mailed Empire Costume to bring this to their attention, but thus far no response. The images on EC’s website do not show a similar defect. As such, I believe this is a one-off error rather than a systematic flaw in the sword design, though it does not lend confidence to their QC practices.
Knuckle Bow doesn't make it all the way - just like Napoleon's invasion of Russia
Even with this flaw, the EC product is miles ahead of the Universal counterpart, and that alone makes it worth the elevated costs in my books. If I wanted something that handles well, I have antiques. This sword was purchased just for bling, and I would argue it meets, if not exceeds expectations in that category.
More details of the guard
One more issue I noticed is that the brass of the guard corrodes really quickly – I touched it with my hands, and within 8 hours there were already some light brown fingerprints – and that’s even with a coat of oil. I know fingerprints corrode metals, but normally you don’t expect something within a work day. The brass has been brought to a very epic polish, so perhaps as it builds up a patina over time it will become more resistant. Either way, this is not something I have noticed on other brass repros, so figured I would mention it here.
The Blade
The pictures of this sword available from EC’s website do a good job showing off the workmanship and build quality. However, they do not do a good job showing the blade – in fact there is no picture which shows the whole sword and blade together. As such, I used the Universal Swords equivalent for a reference. From the stats on KoA, it seemed like the Grenadier’s sword would have a long, slender thrusting blade similar to the 1822 bancal. This is supported by some other sources, which give a blade width of 3cm, or 1.2 inches for this pattern in line with the Universal.
However, the blade on the EC version is quite a bit broader, coming in at 3.4 cm, or 1.34 inches at the base. The grip on the EC is wider than the originals, so I think they had to beef up the blade to compensate. While this may be a historical anachronism, I think it works nicely. The wider blade makes the sword feel very authoritative and intimidating – you have something as wide as a 1796 LC, and as long as the 1822 Bancal. The wide fullers have great definition, and definitely help accentuate the sense of graceful power. I like the fact that the fullers go almost all the way to the edge as well, making the sword both lighter while further accentuating the width of the blade. While not apparent from the mark one eyeball, there is a drastic amount of profile taper, with the blade shrinking to 2.5cm or 1 inch at the end of the fuller. Achieving this amount of taper without making the sword look overly pointy and scrawny is a minor feat of craftsmanship and design in my opinion.
Massive, broad blade on the Horse Grenadier's sabre
Definition of the foible and fullers. Note how it absolutely DWARFS the 1822 tmre. The Tmre is not a big sword, but this thing completely obliterates it...
Another view showing the pincoins and fuller definition. Note that the 1822 has a similar blade width as the 1822 line cav and yet....
Detail of etching on the spine
The taper on the blade is modest, though well within what you would expect from a repro. The 7mm stock is really not bad for a repro, but in this application its really not enough to support the rather long blade. There is notable floppiness in the last ¼ - its not awful, but you will notice it on certain maneuvers. I do not do test cutting but I suspect it would be noticeable there as well.
View of taper down the blade
Handling
At first glance, the handling is mediocre. However, that’s because the aesthetics make you forget how BIG this thing is. When you consider that the Grenadier has similar stars to the 1854 HC, then you start to realize how good it is. Its maneuverable and easy to move for its size, and it can hang with swords which are 80% of its size. For example, I would rate the EC as similar to the Windlass 1906, despite the latter having a much smaller blade. The grip is well sculpted and makes the sword easy to point without getting in the way of dynamic handling, while the large guard and dramatic profile/modest distal taper helps cut down on weight. Its no match for an 1822 Bancal or LC, but as discussed earlier those have much smaller blades, so that’s to be expected.
The most relevant comparison I have is with the 1854 HC, since they have similar sized blades. Here, the Grenadiers trounces the 1854 – it feels much livelier despite the further PoB. That said, 1854 trades dynamic handling for excessive stiffness and rigidity. Given the floppiness of the EC, I think the trade was worth it.
Scabbard
The scabbard is also well done, though has the same quick-corroding brass as the guard. It holds the sword well, and is not comically oversized like what you see on some of the Universal offerings.
Overall
In order to make an assessment, we have to first identify the criteria – mainly what niche or role this repro fills in your collection. While the handling is reasonable, its not really its strong suit. No, this sword was meant to be displayed proudly on your desk as a work of art, with its gleaming gold guard twinkling in the pale moonlight, casting shadows which for a brief moment reveal the ghosts of a glorious empire in a time of strife. In this regard, the Empire Costume does admirably. My only complaint is that poorly assembled guard, but I suspect that is an issue with an individual sword, and not a systematic error inherent to the entire production line.
Full link to images: flic.kr/s/aHsmruhS62
Sources (non-SBG)
swordscollection.blogspot.com/2012/02/horse-grenadier-saber-third-pattern.html
www.napolun.com/mirror/napoleonistyka.atspace.com/IMPERIAL_GUARD_cavalry_1.html#frenchguardcavalrygrenadiers
Images from KoA are liberally marked as such.