Strange British Naval Sabre
 

I originally viewed this sword as part of the Pitt Collection in the possession of the South Australian Museum at the time. This was on the 4th of August 2004, according to the pictures I took then. Recently the museum had made the decision to destroy the collection, however someone suggested they send it to an interstate auction house instead. No one in South Australia was alerted to this decision. Thankfully eventually the word got out, and I was able to secure this sword at auction.

I have never seen a guard like it and was hoping someone out there might have encounterd a similar example. It has GR and the British Coat of arms on the blade, sadly very faint now.

Cheers Cathey

That's a wonderful hilt. You would assume the original owner would have his portrait painted showing this sword?
What do you mean regarding a museum destroying a collection? Have people gone mad?

Australian museums have gone quiet mad
 

Hi Will, yes in Australian museums have gone quiet mad. They will not exhibit anything that is not aboriginal despite the fact that we are supposedly a multicultural nation made up the descendents of immigrants from all over the world.

What is even more infuriating is that the museum in question invited the Heritage arms society to view the collection in 2004, yet when they were considering destroying it, didn’t even bother to contact the society.

Cheers Cathey