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Post by cantelon on Jun 17, 2019 13:02:40 GMT
This sword resists classification (to me). It seems Napoleonic French Cavalry or Infantry officer however the lion's head pommell and langets are an unusual combo. The double fuller (one transitioning to a small triple fuller along half the blade) and the etching all puzzle me. Any ideas? Attachments:
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 17, 2019 15:49:31 GMT
I have no idea, but I like it.
Anything on the spine? Sometimes French stuff has armory etc there. No visible stamps?
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Post by cantelon on Jun 17, 2019 16:43:53 GMT
Yes - the spine has an etched long arrow with etched lines running on either side
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Jun 17, 2019 16:53:34 GMT
Closer pics of the engraving hear the hilt would help.
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Post by cantelon on Jun 17, 2019 16:59:56 GMT
Here is a closer look at the etch on the upper part of the blade...also there is sun crescent moon and stars the proceed lower down. There is an arrow along the spine of the blade just below the hilt similar to this >>>-----------------------> Attachments:
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Post by Jordan Williams on Jun 17, 2019 23:45:00 GMT
Paging Uhlan and @edelweiss, doctors needed. I think it looks like a bar has been removed from the hilt, and am curious of the casting quality. |
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Post by cantelon on Jun 18, 2019 0:37:21 GMT
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 18, 2019 1:34:28 GMT
I have no idea, but I've found a lot of swords with similar guards, all with three bars. Searching "two bar saber" comes up with nothing, "three bar saber" a lot of French and some German stuff, maybe some others, but nothing with a pommel like yours.
On that note, can we get a better detail on the pommel? If I'm seeing it right, it's a sort of lions head?
I can't find anything with a blade like that, either, but I also have no real clue where to start looking.
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Post by cantelon on Jun 18, 2019 1:55:28 GMT
Here are some close ups of the pommel  Also adding a picture of an odd engraving on the spine of the blade below the hilt:  Attachments:
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Post by Jordan Williams on Jun 18, 2019 2:29:01 GMT
I have attached some close-ups. I am not seeing what you are. I think it is a true double guard (not triple) and the one bit is a design element. I could be wrong. The staining on the blade is surface ( I still have to clean it) from the leather of the scabbard The actual two bar hilts have the second bar sit closer to center and don't have those two protrusions, but those two protrusions do look old, so perhaps in its service life (if it is original) it was snapped and the bar removed. |
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Post by Jordan Williams on Jun 18, 2019 2:30:10 GMT
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Post by cantelon on Jun 18, 2019 2:41:44 GMT
It definitely defies classification to me...I mean I have yet to find a lion head pommel with a triple guard like this assuming one of the guards broke.
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 18, 2019 2:43:26 GMT
Definitely looks like a broken three bar, and I'm seeing a lot of similiar hilts...but none exactly the same, never mind with matching pommel, and forget about matching blade.
Figures, as the blade is the part that actually has my attention. I want to know what it is, all those fullers, that broad tip...
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 18, 2019 2:50:21 GMT
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Post by cantelon on Jun 18, 2019 14:18:32 GMT
Yes the blade is also a mystery. I had one person suggest it was a custom ordered officer's sword which may explain the mix of styles. I see German, English and French in the pommel and hilt alone. The blade is unlike anything I have seen in terms of the fullers alone.
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Post by randomnobody on Jun 18, 2019 15:02:38 GMT
My only remaining thought is custom, as well. Pity, as it's a very nice blade and I'd like one, myself. Not that I could afford it, but it would be fun to dream about...
Overall the blade, to my uneducated eyes, looks like a pretty standard 1796 pattern...but I've never seen those fullers on anything of the very little I can say I've seen.
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Post by cantelon on Jul 11, 2019 19:23:51 GMT
The maker's mark is E.H. Otto Curdts but simply his name. Neither Solingen nor Curdt's usual maker's mark symbol are present. This suggests to me it is an early blade by him pre-Solingen.
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Post by randomnobody on Jul 12, 2019 14:46:06 GMT
Hmm... Well, that's more than we knew until now. Doesn't mean anything to me, but I'm sure someone here will recognize the name.
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Post by daveh on Mar 4, 2020 5:28:11 GMT
I know I am late to the party, but that looks like an AN XIII blade, that may have been re-hilted with a Light Cavalry custom hilt. As I study the hilt, it looks like the hilt had 3 bars at one point. Note the little nub toward the back, and a suspicious flat spot above the langet. On a guess, I would say this was possibly a British officer's sword, who when the hilt was modified, replaced the pommel with a British backstrap and pommel, and flattened the quillion and finial to look British. Then again, I could be WAY off base  Check out this hilt... Image found at this auction site...  |
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Check out this hilt...
