George III Dragon-Head Spadroon

Jerseyman · 9th September 2023, 01:20 AM

Military swords are not my area of collecting, but occasionally one drifts into my collection. The dealer listed this as a George III spadroon. It's certainly a spadroon, and I would say 18C but beyond that I don't have the knowledge base to place this accurately.

A shagreen hilt with wire wrap - the wire I would say is a replacement. It looks like the bullion wire used to make military uniform insignia, so I would posit not original. The single-edge blade is in decent condition and solid to the hilt. The pommel shows a very pleasing horizontal ripple lamination - almost certainly exposed due to earlier corrosion I imagine - my bad photos really don't do this sword justice.

Most interestingly the end of the knucklebow, just where it seats into the pommel, (very similar to small sword knucklebows) has been engraved as a dragon head, or perhaps something else, but certainly zoomorphised. I'd be grateful for any information the more knowledgeable can offer.

Dimensions:

Length 92cm
Blade length 77.5cm
Blade width 2.5cm
Spine 0.6cm
Hilt 14.5cm

9th September 2023, 01:20 AM	#1
Jerseyman Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 97	George III Dragon-Head Spadroon Military swords are not my area of collecting, but occasionally one drifts into my collection. The dealer listed this as a George III spadroon. It's certainly a spadroon, and I would say 18C but beyond that I don't have the knowledge base to place this accurately. A shagreen hilt with wire wrap - the wire I would say is a replacement. It looks like the bullion wire used to make military uniform insignia, so I would posit not original. The single-edge blade is in decent condition and solid to the hilt. The pommel shows a very pleasing horizontal ripple lamination - almost certainly exposed due to earlier corrosion I imagine - my bad photos really don't do this sword justice. Most interestingly the end of the knucklebow, just where it seats into the pommel, (very similar to small sword knucklebows) has been engraved as a dragon head, or perhaps something else, but certainly zoomorphised. I'd be grateful for any information the more knowledgeable can offer. Dimensions: Length 92cm Blade length 77.5cm Blade width 2.5cm Spine 0.6cm Hilt 14.5cm Attached Images