Hi Jim

,
thank you very much for the added information, very much appreciated

. The Boxer rebellion is indeed a very complicated era of Chinese history

.
I suspect that the prolific manufacture of 'fake' Chinese weaponary has had an adverse effect on the collecting community ....my main concern when acquiring this sword was it's authenticity. I agree, it would be very interesting to see other examples and further information posted on this thread.
All the best
Kind Regards
David