Chilean Contract French Made M1890 Cavalry Sabre

[Reibert]

Hi mates,
I don't know in which forum area I should inquire about this edged weapon.

A fellow collector on another forum sold me two French model cavalry sabers for export to Chile.
Such sabers are not really my collecting topic, but the price was very fair given the condition of the sabers, which is why I bought these two heavy sabers because I like them and I also know that Chile also bought equipment from the German Reich .
Even today, Chile “maintains” German, imperialist, military “tradition”.

Here I'll first show you pictures from my colleague's sale, which I can use publicly after obtaining permission from him.

I will subsequently provide you with information about this French-made cavalry saber for export to Chile, which I can find on www. have found.

Edged weapons manufactured not only in France but also in Germany were prepared and delivered for export to Chile.
Edged weapons manufactured in Germany were also exported to other Latin American countries.

Over the past decades, German and Austrian hunting weapons dealers and hunting accessories dealers have repeatedly offered edged weapons from Latin American countries in Germany and Austria.
Very likely arsenal stocks bought from these same South American countries?

Maybe one of you can post further information about this saber model here, and perhaps there are also members of Chile registered here in the forum who could give me further information?

Thanks in advance,
R.

[Reibert]

Chilean Contract French Made M1890 Cavalry Sabre

A Chilean M1890 cavalry trooper's sword, made on contract by the French arms factory at Châtellerault / M1890 French Made Chilean Contract Trooper's Sword 33 1/4 inch, single edged, slightly curved.

All solid and complete, in good condition, these date to the 1890s and are an interesting combination of design features, with excellently designed multi-bar bowl guard in steel, composition grip with trigger finger groove and slightly curved cut and thrust sabre blade. They often suffer from loose grips.

The maker's attribution is clearly engraved on the spine of the blade, the approval stamps on the scabbard, the Chilean acceptance shield on the ricasso.

Manufacture d'armes de Chatellerault

A bit of Chilean History

Central and South American swords is a gold mine to find unique and interesting sword models and variants; since the collapse of the Spanish Empire and the creation of autonomous states the absence of a clear sword industry meant that European cutlers and makers could export their products there and Chile was no exception and it too looked up to European powers since its independence to equip and arm itself.

The major military influence was France since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Many leaders of the wars of Independence such as Bolivar, San Martin or O’Higgins were inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution.
Later on many of Napoleon’s former men migrated to the new continent to seek adventure and employment and found a place as advisors within the Chilean Army.

Following the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Chile started to look towards Germany to reorganize itself in time but economical crisis, the Pacific War against Peru and Bolivia and the civil war of 1891 postponed/slowed this. German advisors were thus invited to reorganize the nation's military in the last decade of the century and just a few years after, in early 20th cent, the Chilean army was fully ''prussianized''.

Not until 1944 Germany supplied Chile with advisors, equipment and uniforms.
Even despite the German Empire’s defeat of WW1 and WW2 its influence remained strong in Chile and its army faithfully kept in its military tradition and ceremonial uniforms the Prussian style mixed with some French elements in a manner almost unseen in any other Latin American nation.

A quick look at today’s military parades suffice to show that in Chile the Prussian spirit is still alive and kicking and even carrying French swords


1890 Chilean cavalry trooper sword

This one needs little introduction since it is a very frequently encountered specimen today.
The 1890 sword is a French made contract sword that was created following the cancellation of the trooper model sword said Derue.

This model consisted of a sword armed with a very slim T-shaped blade that was intended to be used solely for piercing attacks; its hilt was composed of an brass guard enveloping to the max the hand and with perforated holes and cut-out designs to lighten the thing.
This sword was a still-born projects and never made it out of production except for the officer’s model which was offered by private cutlers.

But it turns out the hilt had tremendous potential since it got the attention of both the Dutch and Chilean military who were very interested with variations of the sword: the Dutch sword M1895 (trooper and officer) and the infantry officer sword Model 1897 (reduced guard and with a pipeback blade) and a 1955 model (Honorary Escort sabre).

The Chilean model was ordered as an export sword that was directly made in France possibly because Chile didn’t have the means to produce their own swords and French manufacturers like Châtellerault also created swords uniquely exported to other nations, this is why it is stamped by its own inspectors before being inspected again in the receiving country.
Hence the confusion with collector not sure if it is French or other.

The sword was thus composed of the enveloping guard that was made of iron instead of brass; the holes and cut-outs are pretty much the same as the original Derue form; the standard grip was changed to one made of horn and had a pistol-shaped ergonomic form for better grasp.

The blade was made and controlled at Chatellereault and stamped by its quality-control team (in typical French fashion): the back was signed with Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault J.H.
These initials stood for Jacob Holzer who was an entrepreneur that supplied quality iron for the blades.
The obverse ricasso is stamped with the Chilean star meaning it was controlled by the army inspectors before being issued to the unit.


The result was a light, easy to produce sword with a hilt offering good protection and a blade capable of doing cut and thrusts.

However the biggest flaw with this sword is with the grip.
In somespecimen the grips show some rattling, not a big failure but an obnoxious one nonetheless.

This heavy cavalry saber was manufactured in France. “Manufacture d’armes de Chatellerault JH” is seen on one side of ricasso.
Manufacture d’armes de Chatellerault is the French state-owned weapon manufacturer in the town of Châtellerault.
JH stands for Jacob Holtzer, who supplied the steel for the blade.

Source:
the www.

[Larry C]

Hello Riebert ...Thats a good question but your thread can remain here for now until some replies come which may be moved to the edged weapons sub forum in Western Allies section.

Regards Larry

[Reibert]

Some, more, pictures of the saber, especially of the worse-preserved saber.
However, compared to the better-preserved cavalry saber, this one shows some interesting stamps, including a unit stamp.

However, both sabers have probably been stored poorly for a long time and I will soon wipe them gently with an oil-soaked cloth, but otherwise I won't do anything else to make them worse.

One of the two sabers shows strong signs of wear, particularly on the edge of the blade.
I think that Chile used sabers of this type (of this model) to maintain public order in certain military units and also police units!

There are also sabers of this model which are marked with unit stamps, which indicate use in the Chilean police, especially among the military chunta.

Again, I would be interested in the circumstances under which these sabers found their way back to Europe.

[Reibert]

This is probably a Tercer escuadrón saber with the weapon number 419.

What is the significance of the number 17 in the handle guard ("basket") of the saber?

[AndyB]

Jacob Holzer is here mentioned as a contractor or could be a delivererer of blade blanks not a steel provider.
French Chatellerault Chilean Cavalry Sabre
The 17 could means the sabre was dismounted as there is missing the leather buffer, should be looked at pommel for remove traces.Or its a inventory number.
The distribution of similar pieces was already in late 80ies or 70ies of 20century, it should be too in Frankonia catalog, similar to huge amount of M1895 chilean bayonets, it was sold out by Chile army storages.
French Made Chilean Cavalry Sabre | Bygone Blades

[Reibert]

...

[Reibert]

Since the scabbard, the blade and other parts of the saber are quite patinated, I decided to wipe the saber with weapon oil and a soft cloth.

I discovered another stamp on the sheath.

[Anderson]

Interesting, as a export model sabre for the Chilean market made at the State Armoury of Chatellerault. The mark B in circle is an Inspection mark, also stamped on the ricasso. In this case it probably represents Jean-Marie Brenier, the General Controller at Chatellerault between 1874-93.

[Reibert]

In any case, reasonably well preserved, heavy cavalry sabers which are also very decorative.

Unfortunately, one of the two is no longer in very good condition, it was probably used in a training unit in Chile or was actually used for service, possibly even during the civil war in 1891.

This saber has several stamps.