The 1853 pattern British cavalry sword was the first sword to be issued to troopers of both light and heavy cavalry regiments. The sabre was also issued to troopers of the Royal Horse Artillery. It was the first issued sword to utilise Reeves “Patent Solid Tang,” the blade and tang being of one piece instead of the iron “rat-tail” tang that was traditionally forge-welded on to the steel blade. This of course made for a much stronger sword, more rigid and far less likely to suffer a catastrophic failure having eliminated the junction between blade and tang.
The 1853 pattern universal cavalry sword was developed prior to Britain’s entry into the Crimean War at the beginning of 1854. Production was stepped up at the commencement of the conflict and by the end of the Crimean campaign in 1856, all branches of the British line cavalry had been issued with the sword.
The 898mm single-edged blade is slightly curved and has a thick, flat spine with a single fuller and terminates in a spear point. The blade is double-edged for the final 260mm and is in great condition, bright and clean, with only a few tiny spots of tarnish and some very shallow pitting at the point. The edge was service sharpened.
The ricasso bears the Ritter, the knight’s helmet stamp of the Solingen based Kirschbaum company. The obverse ricasso is stamped with a British Tower inspection mark, a crown over the numeral 7.
The iron 3-bar guard comprises a single knuckle bow and two side bars and is in great condition. The “new” solid tang is almost the same width as the blade and is gripped with two leather scales secured by five rivets. The grip scales are firmly in place and are in fair condition showing use related wear to the leather.
The sword is complete with its iron scabbard with twin suspension rings. The scabbard is in good condition with speckles of shallow pitting. The sword sheathes and draws smoothly and is held firmly within the scabbard.
This is a good example of an increasingly hard to find Crimean War period British cavalry trooper’s sword made between 1854 and 1856.
£595.00
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