Non european blade on Napoleonic saber

[Roland_M]

A napoleonic era "Sabre de cavalerie légère à la Chasseur" with a non european blade from around 1800.
The blade length is 85 cm, the overall length is 98cm and weighs 870g.
The blade is very sure not from Europe. My personal guess is that it was forged in the Ottoman Empire.
It is a pipe back blade with the shape of a turkish kilij and a sharp back edge.

The blade thickness at the beginning of the back edge is only 1.5 mm or 0.059 inch.
Close to the short ricasso the blade thickness is 2 mm. I have read books with rumors about such thin blades, but I could not believe it. Now i have one, still hard to believe, even when I hold it in my hand.
The blade is etched with five moons and a kind of cartouche, picture 3,
I hope this can help to find out more information.
I showed pictures of the blade to a well known german blade smith and he replied (quite euphoric) that it is made from layered steel like japanese katana. Exactly as japanese blades, the saber have a mirror polish, which is almost intact.
The blade was worn over a couple of years (detail in picture 4), probably in the Napoleonic campaigns.
The blade itself have some nicks and it is slightly bended from thrusting (seen from top).

Now the blade rests forever in a carefully made scabbard, which is even in excellent condition.

Together with a real worn mandau (with a hamon like on katana) this is the absolute highlight of my collection.


Thanks for reading and I hope i can read some comments to this blade.


p.s. I'm not sure about the right category, I think the main work of the blade is non european.

Best wishes
Roland M.