Solingen Sword With Dragon Etching?

Alex.K · 10th July 2024, 08:00 PM

Hello, I have a sword which was given to me several years ago and based on several posts I assume it is a Solingen sword. Amongst several etching on the sword there is a Half Moon and a Dragon. Can anyone help identify these marking with respect to who the end user(s) were.

Radboud · 11th July 2024, 02:54 AM

Hi Alex,
As I said in my reply to your post on the Facebook group, you have an interesting combination of blade and hilt there

The scabbard is typical of the ones seen on the British 1788 pattern light cavalry swords. The decorations are a combination of the usual mystical iconagraphy popular between about 1780 and 1800. As far as we know they are generic and don't have any meaning. The dragon is less common, but by no means unique and I have seen several Runkel marked blades with them.

You mention Solingen, are there any markings on the spine? J J Runkel imported significant quantities of these into the UK in the late 18th Cent, this could be one of those blades / swords.

While the blade and scabbard are late 18th century cavalry. This hilt is from the 1803 Pattern infantry officers sword and unlikely to be original to the blade, since that style of blade and decoration had pretty much fallen out of fashion by 1803. It's also likely that the blade is too long for infantry use. Furthermore, infantry officers of the time would have had a leather or brass scabbard rather than a steel one like this.

There is a lot of variation in the style of lion and GR Cypher found on 1803s, some are quite detailed while others like this one, less so. Unfortunately without makers or cutlers markings it's difficult to know who made this one. Sometimes they'll have the flaming bomb of the grenadiers or the strung bugle of the light company on the knuckle guard, or an emblem incorporated into the guard itself replacing the GR cypher.

The GR cypher of course refers to King George III.

10th July 2024, 08:00 PM	#1
Alex.K Member Join Date: Jul 2024 Posts: 2	Solingen Sword With Dragon Etching? Hello, I have a sword which was given to me several years ago and based on several posts I assume it is a Solingen sword. Amongst several etching on the sword there is a Half Moon and a Dragon. Can anyone help identify these marking with respect to who the end user(s) were. Attached Images

11th July 2024, 02:54 AM	#2
Radboud Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: New Zealand Posts: 263	Hi Alex, As I said in my reply to your post on the Facebook group, you have an interesting combination of blade and hilt there The scabbard is typical of the ones seen on the British 1788 pattern light cavalry swords. The decorations are a combination of the usual mystical iconagraphy popular between about 1780 and 1800. As far as we know they are generic and don't have any meaning. The dragon is less common, but by no means unique and I have seen several Runkel marked blades with them. You mention Solingen, are there any markings on the spine? J J Runkel imported significant quantities of these into the UK in the late 18th Cent, this could be one of those blades / swords. While the blade and scabbard are late 18th century cavalry. This hilt is from the 1803 Pattern infantry officers sword and unlikely to be original to the blade, since that style of blade and decoration had pretty much fallen out of fashion by 1803. It's also likely that the blade is too long for infantry use. Furthermore, infantry officers of the time would have had a leather or brass scabbard rather than a steel one like this. There is a lot of variation in the style of lion and GR Cypher found on 1803s, some are quite detailed while others like this one, less so. Unfortunately without makers or cutlers markings it's difficult to know who made this one. Sometimes they'll have the flaming bomb of the grenadiers or the strung bugle of the light company on the knuckle guard, or an emblem incorporated into the guard itself replacing the GR cypher. The GR cypher of course refers to King George III.