European sword PL with Islamic? markings to guard

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you again Radboud!
It seems the 'briquet' was one of the most ubiquitous patterns of simple other ranks hanger with its fully cast brass ribbed grip hilt in Europe, with most countries apparently having their production virtually all the same.

While these seem to have been used everywhere, and over long period from end of 18th well through the 19th c.

In my earliest days of collecting, I had Claude Blair's "European and American Arms" (1962) as one of my first arms books. I found one of these at a swap meet, and to my naive eyes it looked like a pirate cutlass! Then browsing through the late Mr. Blairs book, he had a drawing of one of these and captioned as a British 'foot artillery gunners sword'.

It was not until decades later that I discovered there was no such pattern, but these direct copies of the French briquet were apparently privately produced in small numbers. These seem to have been furnished to private units that were in effect 'home guard' paramilitary type groups.

While certainly most of what must have been staggering numbers of these simple weapons must have been produced, relatively few seem to ever turn up. Most were likely instant smelter fodder for the brass, but occasionally these turn up in odd circumstances.
Such as this Spanish colonial anomaly, which is composite with a briquet hilt, three bar cavalry guard and cut down Spanish dragoon blade in an ersatz effort to create an 'espada ancha' presumably.

As Phil had noted, apparently the sword in original post has similar (but less dramatic) circumstances.