DIGNITARY'S SWORD SIGNED FATOU, First Empire. 23084
In gilded bronze. Double-quillon cruise decorated with corollas of foliage ending at each of its ends with a lion's head with a winged goddess in its center represented in an ogive with beaded exterior molding. Pommel in the shape of an antique helmet. Wooden handle with vertically molded mother-of-pearl plates. Blade with two sides and central edges, L 56 cm, one-third engraved with floral motifs and scrolls.
Scabbard with two large openwork gilt bronze fittings, with wooden undersheets.
The upper trim is bordered at the top with a frieze making up the entrance to the bowl. This trim on its front face is decorated in the upper part with a solid decoration representing a helmeted Hercules on a sandblasted background (to a height of 9 cm); in the lower part another solid cartouche represents an unhelmeted Hercules on a sandblasted background (height 6.5 cm); between these two cartridges, this trim is decorated with two intersecting laurel branches with an openwork background and trimmed with a large mother-of-pearl plate (to a height of 14.3 cm). The side edges are solid, in the upper part are welded two suspension bails, the right edge of this trim is signed “Fatou Rue du Bac a Paris”. On its rear face the upper part represents a shield engraved with the initials "PJ", it is bordered by a molding of acanthus leaves and foliage, the lower cartouche is decorated with a fleuron and corollas of foliage; between these two cartridges the hollowed out part without decorations and furnished with a large mother-of-pearl plate.
The lower trim is riveted to the first, its upper part consists of a cartouche decorated with two intersecting laurel branches with an openwork background and trimmed with a large mother-of-pearl plate (to a height of 14.2 cm).
The lower part is solid and represents acanthus leaves from which scrolls of foliage emerge. On its rear face the upper part is devoid of foliage, it is simply lined with a mother-of-pearl plate, the solid lower part is also decorated with acanthus leaves with scrolls in a simplified decoration compared to the front face. Dart in the shape of a lyre decorated with palmettes and foliage.
L total 74.5
France
First Empire.
In good condition, the gilt bronze parts have lost a large part of their gilding, mother-of-pearl plates on the handle broken in two and reattached, blade having lost its colors with strong oxidation in places, scabbard in very good condition with a crack and a very slight loss to the mother-of-pearl plates.
NOTE :
Fatou is a prestigious arquebusier, he signed this sword for a dignitary of the Empire or for a high official. It is a rarely encountered model intended for ceremonial wear.
Reference :
23084