Hi Peter,
This is truly an incredibly interesting anomaly as I have seen these 'warranted' inscriptions on British swords, but have never heard of this firm nor seen this this style of lettering in this period.
In 1788, the British board of ordnance began a survey of the quality of British made blades against the ever present import of German made blades. The key makers involved in this matter were Birmingham makers Samuel Harvey, James Wooley and the most outspoken proponent Thomas Gill. In 1788, the light cavalry sabres which are classified as pattern 1788 were made by James Wooley and Thomas Gill, and I am uncertain of which others or if Harvey was producing them.
The well known J.J.Runkel was a German importer living in England, and typically marked his name in script on the back of the blades as was the style for blades of the period.
To pronounce the superiority of his blades, Gill typically marked on the back of the blade 'WARRANTED NEVER TO FAIL'. Wooley did not use this guarantee but did place his name on the blade accordingly.
In 1796, the new model cavalry sabres began production at the behest of then LeMarchant who had proposed a new style sabre, and one of the first makers was Henry Osborn who had worked with him in developing the pattern. Apparantly the friction between the British and German blades prevailed still and it is known that Osborn often added 'warranted' to his name on the blades.
On the 1796 light cavalry swords Thomas Gill, still apparantly inscribed his blades, now on the face of the blade in this fashion, with 'Tho. Gills, Warranted Never to Fail'. These were believed to have been for a yeomanry contract as many of these swords and scabbards were numbered.
In 1792 a shortsword is recorded with Thomas Gills 'warranted never to fail on the blade back'.
While there were a number of makers producing the M1796 light cavalry sabres, most blades were simply stamped on the back with the makers name as remained a practice through the 19th century. I had honestly not seen M1796 sabres with this inscription until seeing this, but apparantly the Gill examples were the only ones using it, and in the cursive script of the period rather than block letters.
Robson ("Swords of the British Army", p.190) notes the written guarantee on blades and that Gill on some earlier blades had also issued 'warranted to cut iron' guarantees in the same manner (much akin to the German 'eisenhauer' =iron cutter, markings on blades). He also notes that swords were privately purchased by the regiments and that often these were bought in bulk by the Board of Ordnance, these examples often unmarked.
In these early times the swords that were marked were only briefly stamped with the last name or that and initial on the back of the blade, with the exception of these 'warranted' issues. It was unusual as far as I know for a maker using the '& Co.' suffix until later in the 19th century, and this was a practice usually indicated to outfitters or retailers.
The M1796 was replaced in 1821 by a three bar guarded hilt type sword with a narrower cut and thrust type sabre blade, though it remained in service considerably longer in yeomanry and auxiliary units and colonial service.
While the inscription here is most unusual, it does seem compelling, and I am wondering if perhaps an outfitter retailing these swords for units such as auxiliary types as these were transitioning out of service might have embellished the blade using this probably well known phrase in these times.
In any case a very intriguing example and I look forward to other thoughts and information. Most of what I have noted here is from collecting British military swords many years ago.
All best regards,
Jim
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