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
Point of Balance: 105 mm















