European Napoeonic Wars Style Saber, ID?

AlexAtlas · 7th October 2011, 07:09 AM

Hi everyone, first post here as I finally ran into a sword I can not for my life figure out how to ID.

Ok I am officially stumped. This sword came in to me last month and after combing through all of my books, notes and the internet, I can not for my life get any comparable examples to ID it.

The style of the hilt is very close to Napoleonic War era French and Polish sabres, with the exception of the bottom where the tang ends, which looks Germanic in nature. The sword is also engraved with what looks like a lancers motif on one side and lances and an Elephant's head on the other. My wife says she sees a lion in there too, which i don't. The sword is also decorated with stars moons and other symbols, which go ALL the way down the blade. That's highly unusual and I have not seen this before, except on ornate presentation swords in museum collections. There's also leftovers of gold leaf pressed into the blade, which has worn off with use. Why was such a nice presentation blade so heavily used?

The swords is LARGE, about 3.5 feet from end of handle to scabbard tip, and heavy but well-balanced. the drag on the scabbard is REALLY worn almost completely down where it would have touched the ground. There are NO marks outside of the engraved ones. No maker marks, no stampings on the blade, NOTHING.

My gut tells me it's an early blade, but what nation, conflict, etc?

And oh yes, the previous owner decided to "spice it up" by painting the handguard and the scabbard with black latex paint. thankfully he did not touch the leather handle or anything else. it comes off fine with a bit of fingernail scraping, as I hesitate to use any chemical on this piece.

I've heard everything from 1760's British Colonial to 1770's Hessian to 1820's Baden. I know someone out there must have seen a recorded example!

7th October 2011, 07:09 AM	#1
AlexAtlas Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: NY, USA Posts: 3	European Napoeonic Wars Style Saber, ID? Hi everyone, first post here as I finally ran into a sword I can not for my life figure out how to ID. Ok I am officially stumped. This sword came in to me last month and after combing through all of my books, notes and the internet, I can not for my life get any comparable examples to ID it. The style of the hilt is very close to Napoleonic War era French and Polish sabres, with the exception of the bottom where the tang ends, which looks Germanic in nature. The sword is also engraved with what looks like a lancers motif on one side and lances and an Elephant's head on the other. My wife says she sees a lion in there too, which i don't. The sword is also decorated with stars moons and other symbols, which go ALL the way down the blade. That's highly unusual and I have not seen this before, except on ornate presentation swords in museum collections. There's also leftovers of gold leaf pressed into the blade, which has worn off with use. Why was such a nice presentation blade so heavily used? The swords is LARGE, about 3.5 feet from end of handle to scabbard tip, and heavy but well-balanced. the drag on the scabbard is REALLY worn almost completely down where it would have touched the ground. There are NO marks outside of the engraved ones. No maker marks, no stampings on the blade, NOTHING. My gut tells me it's an early blade, but what nation, conflict, etc? And oh yes, the previous owner decided to "spice it up" by painting the handguard and the scabbard with black latex paint. thankfully he did not touch the leather handle or anything else. it comes off fine with a bit of fingernail scraping, as I hesitate to use any chemical on this piece. I've heard everything from 1760's British Colonial to 1770's Hessian to 1820's Baden. I know someone out there must have seen a recorded example! Attached Images