Not my area, but an absolutely beautiful sword! In fact, I like the austerity of the piece, which seems to indicate that, yes, it was made for a person of some import, but also a piece that is more than a dress piece! I am curious how long the blade is? You mentioned that the blade length being shorter and I was curious what the standard length was for a horseman's saber? From what I've seen of European swords of the period, ca.1780-1810, anything over 30" seems to fit the bill-
