Brass hilt briquet type hanger....British cutlass?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by corrado26

By "Mervyn Milton, The policeman's lot, London 1985, p. 108" one can read, that "the actual briquet never made it across the English Channel. This type of weapon does not appear in the UK. Prey pieces in a new way are not known. The "Police Swords and Hangers" are complex pieces, mostly made at "Parker, Field & Sons, 233 Holborn, London". So the sword in question should come from the continent, where it was in use in lots of countries as nearly all German states, France, Switzerland, Spain, Austria and Belgium.

Thank you Udo, excellent cite and thanks for the source detail. The swords for civil service are another area which is it seems not well covered in research material, so this reference is much appreciated.

It seems there is somewhat a consensus that the so called 'briquet' from the Continent was never part of the armory in Great Britain. It is almost bizarre that I never pursued this beyond simply assuming that Wilkinson and Blair in their books and classified these as 'foot artillery gunner' sword, British, was correct.

I think it can be established that the briquet, as a weapon form generally used in Great Britain indeed never happened, as shown in the Morrison article I added in previous post (thanks to Bryce who found it originally).

However, the point being made here is that in these times in pre Napoleonic campaigns England, there was a pallor of fear of French invasion. At this point there was no standardization or regulation of military arms and there was a large push for civil readiness which led to the participation of local artisans, and producers of many wares in making supplies and even weaponry in an ersatz manner.

That is what in my opinion makes this sword so unique, the PS initials align compellingly with Paul Storr, an English precious metals artisan. That places this weapon SOUNDLY on the English side of the channel.

There are many cases of course, where weapons became popular outside regulation or known record at large. The fact that a very limited degree of weapons in England were copied from French forms in a number of elements such as the Woolley & Deakin swords with fluted ebony grips (a French affectation) the 'Montmorency' blade, also of French association. ...suggests that the influences were there, even if not largely apparent.

These are the thoughts I am operating on with this idea, and I am very grateful for these kinds of detail which can test the theory objectively.
Thank you again.

[kronckew]

So...What IS a briquet? What ISN'T? Definition please!

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kronckew

So...What IS a briquet? What ISN'T? Definition please!

These munitions grade hanger/swords were basically infantry/grenadiers weapons in France which were made with cast brass hilts and were well known prior to Napoleonic period and after.
Apparently the term 'briquet' was derisively applied by cavalrymen toward the shorter infantry weapons being compared to the sticks (lighters) called briquets used to start campfires.

It seems these were copied throughout Europe by their infantry units mostly but they seem to have been used in rank and file options as required.
These seem invariably to be the solid cast, ribbed grip brass hilts on varying form short blades.

[kronckew]

So...this brass hilted double edged recurved blade ~yataghan-ish variant qualifies.
I believe it's Prussian - possibly an experimental version.
(Sharp in both edges).

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kronckew

So...this brass hilted double edged recurved blade ~yataghan-ish variant qualifies.
I believe it's Prussian - possibly an experimental version.
(Sharp in both edges).

Actually the example of the French hanger I posted , with the characteristic ribbed brass single piece grip in its distinct shape is the only thing termed a briquet. It was a colloquial nickname as described, and while it was first applied in French context.....it came up, probably as usual by collectors to refer to any of these swords that looked exactly like this.

The example you posted would not be deemed a briquet in normal perspective, does that make any sense? Perhaps by the very loose description of the term you could call it that, but we get into the famous name game.

[kronckew]

Hi Jim, was just pushing the boundary - I don't really think that one is a briquet. Maybe the definition should include 'post french revolutionary', 'ribbed brass grip and rounded D guard, 'short single edged hanger blade'.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Hi Jim, was just pushing the boundary - I don't really think that one is a briquet. Maybe the definition should include 'post french revolutionary', 'ribbed brass grip and rounded D guard, 'short single edged hanger blade'.

Its funny, maybe I've been in this game too long. When I first started researching this sword and of course the French ones, there was no doubt about what a briquet was. In the following decades, any discourse toward one of these brass, D guard, ribbed grip hangers regardless of what country it came from was a 'briquet'.
The term has been indelibly ingrained in the arms lexicon this many years without question.
What is odd is how long these swords have simply remained unexplained as far as their actual place among British edged weapons, and who really used them. There are many of these kinds of anomalies in the study of edged weapons that have simply remained accepted/assumed to be exactly what the old references say they were.

[kronckew]

oops- double possteded

[CutlassCollector]

Good question Wayne - I was wondering if the term included hangers.
A google search throws up a lot of these, quite a few with markings including Versailles with inspection marks dating it to 1812, Pradier from Paris and Holler and Boker from German states. Dates from around 1800 to 1830.
This confirms what Corrado has already stated.

Most of these are described as French Infantry Briquet. There are only slight variations mostly in length. So definitely not a British cutlass as Jim has already stated.

In the 18/19th century brass was cheaper than steel. Large scale steel production had not yet arrived. Brass was formed and moulded at lower temperatures and was easy to work with. Castings could be made cheaply. The briquet looks to have a grip and guard all in one piece so cheap to manufacture in quantity. A cheap way of arming thousands of infantry or militia.

The disadvantage of brass is it requires to be thicker and therefore heavier to be as strong as the equivalent in steel guards, which does not make for a well balanced sword.

Sometimes private purchase British cutlasses are seen with brass guards and or grips. Ship owners saving pennies rather than just having nice looking cutlasses!
CC