Page 207 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

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Triangular-section blade NA V AL SW
Metal chape

▼ S-BAR NAVAL SWORD This S-bar hilted sword—used by
Gilt locket with
suspension ring Date c.1800 naval officer Captain W Holt in the
Anchor early 1800s—has a curved blade, ORDS
cartouche Origin UK and features an anchor cartouche
Length 38 ⁄4in (97.5cm) on the five-bar guard.
1
Ivory grip

Flat cap
pommel

Gilt brass
locket Black leather
scabbard

Flattened
tip
Scabbard
Suspension ring

Etched designs
on blued blade

Modified hilt,
c.1880

Single-edged ▲ FRENCH CUTLASS In 1802, the French navy issued a new
blade Date 1803 model of cutlass with a brass knuckle
guard and grip. Known in France as a sabre
Origin France d’abordage (boarding saber), the cutlass was
Weight 32oz (907g) a wide-bladed slashing sword with either a
straight or slightly curved blade. The hilt was
Length 31 ⁄4in (81cm)
3
modified in its working life, in about 1880.
Quillon

▲ DRESS SWORD This stirrup-hilted dress sword probably
Date c.1805 belonged to an officer in the naval arm of the
East India Company—known at the time as
Origin UK the “Bombay Marine.” It is markedly similar
Stirrup hilt
1
Length 28 ⁄4in (71.8cm) in style to British Royal Navy dress swords of
the early 19th century.

Single-edged
steel blade