Cut-steel smallsword (not mourning)

[urbanspaceman]

I have a sword of very similar style that I have always referred to as a Court Sword.
The chain knuckle-guard is purely a decorative affectation really and obviously of no defensive use.
Various additional attachments at each end were common and assorted.
Your version is particularly elaborate and very attractive.
This hilt is almost certainly a product of the Soho factory of Matthew Boulton, Birmingham;
his catalogues offered a multitude of variations on numerous themes (1,400 plus if memory serves).
The black/blued hilt was indeed intended to emphasise the studded and cut steel decoration.
The scabbard may have been left as its natural parchment finish; although variations abound.
The big question is who was producing those blades at the time: if it was the mid to latter half of the 18thC then they may well have come from Olley in Shotley Bridge; although Solingen was still a huge supplier with pedlars like Runkle importing vast quantities. I doubt Klingenthal was getting its blades into this country at that time for obvious reasons.
The gilt and blue decoration on my blade was ubiquitous and left a trail of miserable deaths in its wake as the application process used mercury and was extremely hazardous; it was probably on your blade when new.