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Post by jimmythedonut on Jan 14, 2022 22:50:18 GMT
Wow, Jimmy. Nice acquisitions. I hope to eventually get a few British sabers, but I seem to be stuck on the mainland for the foreseeable future. Thank you! I had started 2021 with 06 antique swords. At a certain point I went a bit nuts. Around October I realized I wanted to get 30 antique swords before I turned 30. I still have roughly 3 months and when everything actually arrives, I will have close to 50 lol. Not all of them are Michael D Long levels of price or quality but I'd say I force marched myself into a decent start!
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Post by jimmythedonut on Jan 14, 2022 22:59:04 GMT
I must confess coming into antique sword collecting I didn't expect to find French swords this good, I have to apologize for being an Anglo snob. Though now the question is, are British swords going to compare to the lofty heights I have for them in my brain> I think people get too caught up in the Anglo - French propaganda and forget that France was a significant super power in Europe and the rest of the world for a majority of post classical history. There are reasons why a lot of French military technology was copied around the world. As much as I love his videos (and also blame him for getting me into military sabres in general) I would say Matt Easton has probably done more to hype up British Sabres than anyone else in a century. Were there someone to do the same with French sabres I think more awareness might be gained too. I won't deny the scroll hilts are beautiful and there's certainly more hilt variations with the Brits. Ironically I think we see more blade variations with the French who basically used extremely similar hilts for the majority of swords (excluding the "mystery" North African ones, which I also admit to being a bit smitten with). I tend to focus and look for "good" swords at this point until I can get a better enough job to afford the "popular" ones. That means a lot of sniping for Swiss, Swedish, Italian etc. models and taking what performs well as a primary concern over anything else at this point. I've an M1855 Italian Infantry Sabre with a Wilkinson style blade I am quite interested in getting soon alongside some other ones but yes the French swords really were a surprise!
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Post by Pino on Jan 15, 2022 1:28:50 GMT
There's a hype about British swords? Honestly from what I read in the last decade I thought most were regarded as useless sticks, at least the trooper swords from 1853 to 1908. It was only after handling several models I came to appreciate a couple of them, sometimes even more than some French swords; the Staff Sgt 1905 sword for example is one of the most perfect swords in my opinion.
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Post by jimmythedonut on Feb 10, 2022 23:15:11 GMT
Well the sword has arrived and it is indeed a mystery. There is FAINT writing on the spine, can't make out too much but the 2nd or 3rd word starts with a Capital F. A replacement leather washer was glued in but the sword is rock solid after I inadvertently destroyed it not knowing it had been glued in. Oh well, such things can be replaced.
The sword is the full 92cm long, montmorency fuller and everything. It has never been sharpened with an almost flat square edge (I have seen this on a few of my swords, is this how they left the factory before getting sharpened?).
The POB is about 16.5cm down the blade. It is L I G H T. I clocked it in at about 810grams give or take. It feels WONDERFUL in the hand as a result.
I will try to get some photos of the spine when I can. It is definitely not a troopers blade but the plain guard is an odd choice in this case.
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Post by jimmythedonut on Feb 11, 2022 7:48:01 GMT
Alright so far I can make out (M^ure) d'armes du P'(something) and I want to say it ends with St. Etienne based on the distribution of large loops and stuff. Please believe me when I say this is the best photo I could get, the etching is incredibly light and I had 3 different light sources and a camera to balance to get this. Any further advice would be appreciated. Also there are no stamps on the blade whatsoever beyond this, nothing on the (badly aged) hilt either. Attachments:
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Post by jimmythedonut on Feb 11, 2022 7:49:13 GMT
The part covered by the light is simply the M^re d'armes de part, its everything past that I cannot decipher.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Feb 11, 2022 11:07:21 GMT
Manufacture Francaise de St. Etienne? That signature is quite late. End of the 19th C. Should (?) be stamped on the blade too. Also, a sabre this light is not on the books. According to l'Hoste all M1822's clock in at about 1000-1100 grams and more. Officially St Etienne did not make the regulation M1822, so together with the weight that could point to a more ,,ceremonial'' use I'd say it may be or a one off for an private person or a design for a new variant that never was made? A precursor of the ,realized'' F1? KOA has the F1 in the catalogue. See whether the weight ,,matches''.
Cheers.
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Post by jimmythedonut on Feb 11, 2022 18:45:47 GMT
Manufacture Francaise de St. Etienne? That signature is quite late. End of the 19th C. Should (?) be stamped on the blade too. Also, a sabre this light is not on the books. According to l'Hoste all M1822's clock in at about 1000-1100 grams and more. Officially St Etienne did not make the regulation M1822, so together with the weight that could point to a more ,,ceremonial'' use I'd say it may be or a one off for an private person or a design for a new variant that never was made? A precursor of the ,realized'' F1? KOA has the F1 in the catalogue. See whether the weight ,,matches''. Cheers. We must take a modern reproduction with a grain of manufacturing salt but KOA lists theirs as ~.93kg give or take with a 32.25" blade so mine is longer and lighter. I'd initially thought it would be some sort of no-name Solingen clone and was happy to live with that but as there is writing on the spine that seems to indicate French manufacture. The hilt is also very small. From the top of the pommel to the bottom lip of the plate it measures right around 14cm. Not too small to use, ironically it feels quite nice. I am not learned on French Swords hardly at all but my best guess is some sort of 1-off non-regulation thing, maybe even a civilian sale?
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Uhlan
Member
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Post by Uhlan on Feb 11, 2022 22:27:12 GMT
St. Etienne produced guns and all that belonged to them mainly. Not a sabre manufactury. So this could very well be a one off for some civilian entity. 14 cm for the grip is not bad, almost standard. Very interesting but until there is another one detected and posted and some answers come up, there's nothing much to say about it. Could try to post it on here: www.passionmilitaria.com/Those guys know French swords and sabres like no one else. One thing though: They do not like posts in English. Period. Really, write whatever you want in a text editor, pipe it through a translator and post this and be polite and excuse yourself for forcing them to read crummy French. I am sorry, but that is the way they roll. I learned the hard way and ask Jack88 too if you think I am joking. In the end it might be someone on there knows exactly what you have here. Membership, needed to do anything on that forum, is free. You have to go through some hoops and wait for 1-2-3 days, but all in all, if you want to know anything about French stuff, this is the place to be. Cheers.
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Post by jimmythedonut on Feb 11, 2022 23:16:36 GMT
St. Etienne produced guns and all that belonged to them mainly. Not a sabre manufactury. So this could very well be a one off for some civilian entity. 14 cm for the grip is not bad, almost standard. Very interesting but until there is another one detected and posted and some answers come up, there's nothing much to say about it. Could try to post it on here: www.passionmilitaria.com/Those guys know French swords and sabres like no one else. One thing though: They do not like posts in English. Period. Really, write whatever you want in a text editor, pipe it through a translator and post this and be polite and excuse yourself for forcing them to read crummy French. I am sorry, but that is the way they roll. I learned the hard way and ask Jack88 too if you think I am joking. In the end it might be someone on there knows exactly what you have here. Membership, needed to do anything on that forum, is free. You have to go through some hoops and wait for 1-2-3 days, but all in all, if you want to know anything about French stuff, this is the place to be. Cheers. Thanks for the advice! I have a few international friends I may use to help me translate or I may simply see if one of the French-speaking sword collectors can simply ask on my behalf. The biggest issue is trying to get clear photos, 1000 painful deaths for whoever took an industrial grinder to the spine and the hilt and scabbard are in bad enough (but still serviceable if antiquated) condition they at least could have cleaned the pitting off either of those. I will report back when I have new information, gentlemen!
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