Africanised Sabre..any ideas as to the blade ?

[katana]

Hi Dmitry and Norman,
thanks for your input, appreciated .

Dmitry, please, would you have any details of the sword pictured in your last post ?

Hi Jim,
nevermind, it would have been exciting to discover an American sabre used in Africa...... now who's thinking 'outside the box'

Kind Regards David

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by katana

Dmitry, please, would you have any details of the sword pictured in your last post ?

I have just acquired it and haven't received it yet.
From the photo alone I would tentatively attribute it as British officer's hanger ca.1800-1820, perhaps naval, but not positively so. The lion mask langets are not a definitive naval characteristic. I'll report back once I have a good look at it.

I've been meaning to ask - your blade is of a very strange color. What happened with it?

[katana]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

I have just acquired it and haven't received it yet.
From the photo alone I would tentatively attribute it as British officer's hanger ca.1800-1820, perhaps naval, but not positively so. The lion mask langets are not a definitive naval characteristic. I'll report back once I have a good look at it.

I've been meaning to ask - your blade is of a very strange color. What happened with it?

Thanks Dmitry,
as to the colour of the blade...I believe it is a photo effect, a combination of an overcast day and the use of photo shop type software ....to show the contours of the blade better.

Perhaps, there is a possibility that my blade was originally Naval ?

Regards David

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by katana

Perhaps, there is a possibility that my blade was originally Naval ?

Impossible to say with any degree of certainty, imho. In this case it's "the clothes that make the man". Seeing a blade like this decorated with naval symbols, or coupled with a hilt bearing like attributes, or with a two hundred year old documented provenance would certainly be nice. Otherwise things turn conjectural.


The length of your blade, 70.5 cm, is it the straight line from blade tip to the bottom of the hilt?
If that is the case, a blade that would be quite consistent with the shape and length of yours, is often seen on the British 1803 Pattern Infantry Officer's swords, such as this one.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by katana

Hi Dmitry and Norman,
thanks for your input, appreciated .

Dmitry, please, would you have any details of the sword pictured in your last post ?

Hi Jim,
nevermind, it would have been exciting to discover an American sabre used in Africa...... now who's thinking 'outside the box'

Kind Regards David

Hi David,
Absolutely!!! As I've always noted how much I have always admired your keen skills in this process of observation, it seems Ive learned a lot from you in its application!!! You're still the master at it though, and it truly brings dimension into the research. Even though this one fell short, it was fun.

The sword presented by Dmitry is spot on! and I really look forward to more discussion on it. While I believe that as noted, there is some possibility of a naval edged weapon, one would expect to find a fouled anchor someplace of that were the case. In many ways, it resembles a naval dirk, although I think those were typically more distinct in the blade type and shorter, but I would defer to others better versed on that.
Personally I think Norman's suggestion on customs and police swords is well placed, but Im not sure the lionhead of military fashion would be used. The blade certainly does seem of the type though. It was always interesting to me that some of the other customs sabres of early 19th century were essentially full size cavalry style blades, and these ended up with the mountain artillery divisions.

All best regards,
Jim