#small-sword

The other recent arrival is this finely detailed silver hilted French smallsword. The blade is marked:

Guyon L'aine au Roy De La Chine Sur Le Pont St Michel a Paris 

Which translates to:

Guyon (The Elder) to The King of China St Michel Bridge Paris.

Guyon was a sword cutler from about 1750 to 1767. And the St Michel Bridge was a retail address in Paris. Given the way shops were identified at the time, and the lack of a king in China, it is most likely that “The King of China” was a shop name that Guyon worked from to sell his swords.

There are three stamps on one of the annelets that are likely to be hallmarks, but I am still trying to identify them so can’t confirm if the hilt is silver or not, but given the wear on the decorations I believe it to be likely.

(If anyone can identify them, please let me know)

The caduceus of Hermes (Roman - Mercury) features prominently in the decorations and this association with commerce could indicate that the sword belonged to a wealthy merchant (since the hilts were made to order from patterns). Unfortunately, we’ll never know, but it is fun to speculate.

Interestingly, even though it is 10 grams lighter than the smallsword with the boatshell guard. It’s more forward point of balance makes it feel slightly heavier in the hand.

Overall Length: 912 mm

Blade Length: 760 mm

Grip Length: 116 mm

Inside Grip Length: 82 mm

Weight: 420 grams

British Smallsword Hilt and Scabbard Mounts, Hallmarked for 1797–98, by James Morisset 

As so frequently happens, just when you say to yourself that you have enough examples of a type in your collection, something else crosses your path that grabs your attention….

Like many smallswords, this example is difficult to place in a specific region; but going by the decoration style and the way the guard screws on the pommel, it is most likely of German or Northern European origin, from the late 18th or early 19th Century.

Smallswords were carried at this time by military officers, court officials or wealthy gentlemen in many nations and the vast majority don’t follow any specific pattern. So, in absence of a makers or nationalistic marking we can only guess to a swords’ origin.

The blade on this smallsword is too dark to clearly make out what remains of the original markings but is visible is typically seen on Solingen blades. Not very helpful when we consider the sheer mass of blades exported by the region over history.

For me, each smallsword is a unique item, a piece of a ‘gentleman’s uniform / jewelry’ so I like to see examples that reflect a small cross section of all the different styles. What attracts me to this sword is the gilt 'a la Francaise' boatshell hilt, the use of ebony wood for the grips and the long, trefoil blade. The sword strikes me as being not too ostentatious, and a practical weapon.

Overall Length: 995 mm

Blade Length: 824 mm

Grip Length: 135 mm

Inside Grip Length: 100 mm

Sword Weight: 430 grams

Imperial Russian Gold Inlaid Court-sword

English Silver Hilt Smallsword c.1770. No visible hallmarks, guard and pommel finely pierced with radial star burst and chased with flutes and raised imitation ‘stud work’, pierced knuckle bow and quillon block, grip bound with silver tape and twisted silver wire, hollow ground triangular-section blade etched with foliate ornament and strapwork.

Mid-18th Century smallsword with chiselled steel hilt decorated in classical motifs. Asymmetrical ‘pas d’ane’ guard with pronounced annelets and a single quilion. Wooden core grip bound in silver tape and twisted wire. Un-signed hollow ground tri-form blade.

European late 18th Century smallsword with chiselled and pierced steel hilt. Symmetrical 'pas d'ane' guard decorated in military trophies and a single quillon. Square wooden core grip bound in copper ribbon and twisted wire. Hollow ground tri-form blade marked I.C.B for Johann and Clemens Boegel of Solingen.