Sword of a Carabineer field Officer who took part in the Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 1815, First Empire.
Sword with a gilded brass hilt, whose model was designed by Klingenthal Manufacture during the Hundred Days. Five-branch fighting guard, composed of a wide imperial crown with an openwork design, topping an N letter in relief, surmounted with the orb.
Multiple-sided pommel engraved (height: 6, 7 cm); its top part is decorated with a lion's head in relief.
Wooden grip covered with shagreen filigree with double-wired silvered copper.
Straight quillon with flower-shaped end.
Total height for hilt: 16,5 cm. Width: 12 cm. Thickness around the crown: about 7 mm.
Curved blade signed at the ricasso “Tatham and Egg”; signed at the back: “Klingenthal”. Damask blade richly decorated with sea monster spitting out thunderbolts; with crowns in the shape of bowls, filled with foliage; with a Herakles mace,
with an ax, a spear, trumpets, caduceus, the Royal British Crown and the Order of the Garter motto, which was founded by Edward III, in the middle of the 14th century: 'Honi soit qui mal y pense', and the motto of the Monarchy since Henry V, at the beginning of the 15th century: 'Dieu et mon Droit'. These decorations are engraved with polished reliefs and a golden background.
Length: 81,6 cm; width at the ricasso: 3,8 cm; thickness at the ricasso: 1 cm; rise: 7 cm.
Sword weight without the scabbard: 1,092 kg.
Steel scabbard with two gilded brass mounts.
Throat of the scabbard is decorated with a gilded brass cap which is 0,3 cm high, 4,8 cm wide, 2,3 cm thick.
Gilded brass mounts are rectangular-shaped and lined at the top and at the bottom by a salient thin line; the main part is decorated with a sandy-bottomed cartouche with two laurel crowns in relief. The latter are intertwined and tied to each other by a ribbon, which is 4,7 cm wide, 3,9 cm high, 2,8 cm thick. Round-shaped piton : height: 1,6 cm; diameter: 1,6 cm. Gilded bronze ring: outer diameter: 3,3 cm. (Ring is 0,4 cm thick).
Steel drag: height: 10,6 cm; width: 4 cm; maximum thickness: 0,5 cm; minimum thickness: 0,4 cm.
Total length of scabbard: 84,8 cm. Width in the top part: 4,5 cm; thickness: 2,2 cm; weight: 0,643 kg.
Very good condition; blade with oxydation.
First Empire.
History.
This family sword (Vendée nobility) comes from the spoils of war of a British officer, after the Battle of Waterloo. The N letters on the hilt and the orb were scraped in 1815 (mark of this N letter can still be clearly seen) and the blade was replaced by a blade from the same Klingenthal manufacture, but it bears the arms of the British Army.
Very rare object. Very few specimens remain from the First Empire, and the few specimens that are registered were altered for the Carabineers of Monsieur (brother of the king).
Reference :
3195