Late 18th Century U.S. Naval Cutlass ?

M ELEY · 19th December 2014, 03:21 AM

How did I miss this little beaut! You've got a great cutlass there, Sword Collector. It is not an officer's sword, but a fighting cutlass as used by deckhands during boarding raids. I can't tell from the pics if the grip is leather over wood or made of wood.

If it is leather covered turned wood, this cutlass is either a British or American private purchase sword, as used on merchantmen for defense and on privateers during the Age of Fighting Sail.

If what I'm seeing is a wood grip, it is maple and one of the so-called Baltimore pattern U.S. cutlasses as used by the Federalist period navy. One of the key identifiers is the ribbed maple wood grips with figure-of-eight pattern hilt. The hanger slots on these were just a design feature, however, it might have served the same purposes that langets did on naval pistols (a knot holder to secure the weapon to the pirate's...(

), opps, I mean sailor's wrist. In combat, if one were to accidently drop the weapon, it prevented said item from being washed overboard, kicked around by numerous boarder's feet, etc. The blades on the Baltimore patterns were single-edged curved such as yours. Just as in the century before (Rev War swords), the blades on these didn't necessarily have to be American made. Cutlass type sea swords were practical weapons for the common sailor. I suspect that the blade on yours is German made. The cresent moon and stars is a Cabalistic design used for many centuries, but especially popular among the German smiths. For example, the firm of Schnitzler and Kirshbaum made exact copies of the m1803 Figure 8 hilt Brit cutlass, complete with spurious GR markings, into the 1850's. I bring this up because they made another earleir style sword in which they had the moon/sun/star patterning.

Note- there were two types of Baltimore pattern swords, one with ribbed iron and the other with maple. The lathe turned maple were far more rare and have fetched incredible prices. If you google-search, most of what pulls up are the iron types, but you'll see the general characteristics, anyway. Many had clipped point blades, but not all did. If you pick up a copy of Gilkerson's 'Boarders Away', you will see several similar examples.

Either way, a great naval piece for any collection!

19th December 2014, 03:21 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,156	How did I miss this little beaut! You've got a great cutlass there, Sword Collector. It is not an officer's sword, but a fighting cutlass as used by deckhands during boarding raids. I can't tell from the pics if the grip is leather over wood or made of wood. If it is leather covered turned wood, this cutlass is either a British or American private purchase sword, as used on merchantmen for defense and on privateers during the Age of Fighting Sail. If what I'm seeing is a wood grip, it is maple and one of the so-called Baltimore pattern U.S. cutlasses as used by the Federalist period navy. One of the key identifiers is the ribbed maple wood grips with figure-of-eight pattern hilt. The hanger slots on these were just a design feature, however, it might have served the same purposes that langets did on naval pistols (a knot holder to secure the weapon to the pirate's...( ), opps, I mean sailor's wrist. In combat, if one were to accidently drop the weapon, it prevented said item from being washed overboard, kicked around by numerous boarder's feet, etc. The blades on the Baltimore patterns were single-edged curved such as yours. Just as in the century before (Rev War swords), the blades on these didn't necessarily have to be American made. Cutlass type sea swords were practical weapons for the common sailor. I suspect that the blade on yours is German made. The cresent moon and stars is a Cabalistic design used for many centuries, but especially popular among the German smiths. For example, the firm of Schnitzler and Kirshbaum made exact copies of the m1803 Figure 8 hilt Brit cutlass, complete with spurious GR markings, into the 1850's. I bring this up because they made another earleir style sword in which they had the moon/sun/star patterning. Note- there were two types of Baltimore pattern swords, one with ribbed iron and the other with maple. The lathe turned maple were far more rare and have fetched incredible prices. If you google-search, most of what pulls up are the iron types, but you'll see the general characteristics, anyway. Many had clipped point blades, but not all did. If you pick up a copy of Gilkerson's 'Boarders Away', you will see several similar examples. Either way, a great naval piece for any collection! Last edited by M ELEY; 19th December 2014 at 04:31 AM.