Primitive cutlass for I.D.

M ELEY · 2nd March 2015, 06:16 PM

Of course you are both correct that it easily could be of the earlier (Rev War) period. If so, it might correctly be more identified as a true naval piece if used by an American sailor. Government vs. private purchase for the Americans during this period was redundant. All of the pieces would have been primitive, blacksmith-made and crude. Colin, this truly is a great piece that breathes character! I often think of crude cutlasses as 'folk art' in nature, no two being alike.

374S in Neumann's is very similar, as is 380S. I love Neumann's book, but will caution that when it was written, some of the forms might have been mis-classified by date. For instance, 377S, noted as Rev War period, is actually a documented form from the War of 1812. The Raleigh History Museum has one in their collection that is well-attributed to that later period. I've also seem many of the 'sheet guard types' such as 376S being post 1800.

2nd March 2015, 06:16 PM	#5
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,163	Of course you are both correct that it easily could be of the earlier (Rev War) period. If so, it might correctly be more identified as a true naval piece if used by an American sailor. Government vs. private purchase for the Americans during this period was redundant. All of the pieces would have been primitive, blacksmith-made and crude. Colin, this truly is a great piece that breathes character! I often think of crude cutlasses as 'folk art' in nature, no two being alike. 374S in Neumann's is very similar, as is 380S. I love Neumann's book, but will caution that when it was written, some of the forms might have been mis-classified by date. For instance, 377S, noted as Rev War period, is actually a documented form from the War of 1812. The Raleigh History Museum has one in their collection that is well-attributed to that later period. I've also seem many of the 'sheet guard types' such as 376S being post 1800.