A German French Whatzit First Empire (?) Sabre
 

A recent adoption I'm working on. Sometimes the offer is for less than one would bid. The blade is about 33 1/2" long. The etching goes right up the length of the fuller to the end. The hilt is really nicely done fire gilt. There is one of the many Solingen squigglies on the spine of the blade. It is not the flower one. I don't know if anyone has done a chart of these spine marks. It is way down on my lists of things to do but I must have several now in my photo archives.

These are the sale images, some reduced for posting.

So, uploaded for consideration here. I have a couple of more while I am cleaning. There was/is a lot of hard dirt on the blade and hilt. The blade will take some time to lift the dirt while leaving the faded bluing and gold.

Cheers
GC

A couple of in progress from yesterday. Reduced somewhat for the uploader. A couple of quick snaps that reveal I still have more work to do. Alas no scabbard. The blade is only 1" wide at the ricasso. I had watched a French looking sword 20 years ago that had a really similar blade profile but a less fancy hilt and less etching. That one had a sound leather scabbard, so maybe this one as well had such when new.

I look forward to thoughts and maybe confirmation of a Napoleonic First Empire sword.

Cheers
GC

I have looked through all volumes of Christian Aries and the book of Lhoste/Resek but this typ of sword I could not find. So I think it is not a French one. The decoration of the ricasso is rarely found at French blades the more at blades of Solingen manufacture. Over that this typ of hilt is normally used with epees/swords and not with sabres, so I think this is a composition originally not belonging together.

Thanks. The thin leather grip is the same consistency as a much later (1850s) Bavarian Landwehr sword that I have. The peen on this is exceptionally clean. If it is a composite, it was done very cleanly.


Cheers
GC