Spanish sword ID help
 

Hello friends,
I am a new collector and hope to learn about and collect many swords. This piece is my first Western sword (I also have two tulwars). From what I can learn online, this sword appears to be a 1875 Spanish Officers sword. In my mind, it appears a little elaborate to be a proper fighting weapon, and it does not appear to match (in fighting qualities) some British and French officer swords of the same period. Could it be a ceremonial sword? Or am I wrong about everything here? :confused:

Not such a surprise that your Espadin (small sword) does not have the look of a fighting weapon. Remember that in 1875 (even before) swords were already superseded by firearms and thus confined to ceremonial purposes; even in some cases and countries certain models kept having a less decorative and more lethal look.

Hi Fernando, thank you for the reply.

Yes that makes sense, there were even quite effective revolvers around at this period, which would have made the swords task a secondary one or to be used as a last resort in battle. I have found some old photos of Spanish Officers from the period 1885-1900 and their swords look very similar to my one.

1.Volunteer Light Infantry Captain: 1st. Company, Voluntarios de Matanzas, Cuba 1885-98

2 (with some colour) Volunteer Light Infantry Officer: Unidentified Company, Voluntarios de Matanzas, Cuba 1885-98