Unknown saber

[sepulhead]

Hello guys,

I've been searching for many kinds of sabers but I've not found one like this one you can see on the photos, I have doubts about it's procedence and age.
Do you know something about it?

Thanks in advance.

[sepulhead]

Anything?

[Gary J]

Well, looking at the construction of the sabre, there seems to be a lack of refinement in items such as the basket, and handle.
Note that the front of the basket looks to have been chopped off.

It seems that in construction, there are elements that have been copied from a few European types .... Lions head pommel, etc ...

I'm wondering whether the sabre is a relic from the Napoleonic Peninsula wars, and of Eastern European manufacture ? ... Maybe Russian Mercenary or something similar ?
It's certainly a battlefield type sabre .. not ceremonial, and with the elongated curve, for cavalry use ..

Gary J.

[sepulhead]

Hi Gary,

Many thanks, your comments are very helpful. Thanks to you I've discovered that the lion head of my sabre is like georgian cavalry sabres, but the basket is still a mystery, I've not found no one similar.

[Gary J]

Just checking round the net, and there seems to be some similarity to the single branch and handle amongst some of the American civil war swords, although the style of the curve in the blade is unusual. (I spotted one US sabre made in New Jersey that had very similar patterns on the branch).
Online Catalog-SER445-Single branch, Non Regulation Sauerbier
This however, would explain the crudeness of manufacture, as with a lot of the weapons quickly made during the conflict.

So, another route might be to check out American Civil war sabres !

Gary J.

[sepulhead]

I've been searching and searching and I've not found the same model with the lion head and the basket on the same saber, it seems like a f... frankenstein, but I've found some non reglamental sabers that have been modifyed or copied from reglamental ones.
Most probably is that my saber is from the 1820's and from french volunteers of the called "100 mil hijos de San Luís" army who invaded Spain to give support to the "carlistas", who defended the absolutism monarchy of Charles VII against the liberal monarchy of Elisabeth II in the "1a Guerra Carlista" (1833-1840).
This is what I believe, but many thanks for your comments Gary J.

[Gary J]

It might be worth you trying to contact the webmaster, or even joining Oldswords.com.
I know that they have a fantastic database within their website ..

Old Swords / OldSwords Terms & Conditions

I still have the feeling by the actual hand grip, that it is patterned on an earlier model, but the lack of markings is typical of US civil war types ...

If you do find out the background, PLEASE post your findings, as I would be most interested.

Cheers

Gary J.