19th Century French Ambassador's Smallword
Data
| Period1 | French Second Empire | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Min/Max date1 | 1851-12-02 - 1870-09-04 | Location(cntry)1 | Belgium |
| Origin1 | France | Location(detail)1 | ex author's collection |
| Sword type1 | Smallsword | Displayed at1 | -- |
| Corps1 | Civilian | Reference1 | -- |
| Outfit2 | Ambassador / Grand Chambellan | ||
| Owner1 | |||
| Guard type1 | 1 bar | Provenance1 | Cannes encheres |
| Quillions1 | 1 | Provenance(detail)1 | Jul 19 2014, lot 98 |
| Hilt type1 | Pierced shell | Original owner1 | Eugene Marie Cor |
| Grip form1 | Octogonal flat | ||
| Pommmel type1 | Coat of arms and crown | Condition1 | Very Good |
| Blade type1 | Straight | ||
| Edge1 | Triple edged | ||
| Fuller1 | 3 | Information date | 2015-01-11 |
| Information source | 1 Author 2 J.Lhoste EPeF |
| Sword | Blade | Scabbard | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max length(cm/In)1 | 92.1 | 36.26 | 76.5 | 30.12 | 77.5 | 30.51 |
| Max width(cm/In)1 | 10.60 | 4.17 | 1.40 | 0.55 | 2.18 | 0.86 |
| Max thickness(cm/In)1 | 3.90 | 1.54 | 0.80 | 0.31 | 1.88 | 0.74 |
| Curvature(cm/In)1 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Width at 10 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | 0.54 | 0.21 | 1.08 | 0.43 |
| Thickness at 10 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | 0.35 | 0.14 | 0.81 | 0.32 |
| Width at 50 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | 0.91 | 0.36 | 1.32 | 0.52 |
| Thickness at 50 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | 0.54 | 0.21 | 0.91 | 0.36 |
| Section at 10 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | Hollow triangle | Rounded triangle | ||
| Section at 50 cm(cm/In)1 | -- | -- | Hollow triangle | Rounded triangle | ||
| Weight(kg/lb+oz)1 | 0.36 | 0lb 13oz | -- | -- | 0.07 | 0lb 2oz |
| Information source | 1 Author | |||||
| Hilt | Blade | Scabbard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials1 | Mother of pearl | Steel | Black leather |
| Bronze | -- | Bronze | |
| Gilding | -- | -- | |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| Features1 | Imperial coat of arms | Acid etching | Flowers |
| Crown | Floral design | Arabesque | |
| Floral design | Spear | -- | |
| Fruits | 8 mm ricasso | -- | |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| Marks1 | -- | Antlered animal/bee hive | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| -- | -- | -- | |
| Hilt inscription1 | -- | ||
| Blade inscription1 | -- | ||
| Scabbard inscription1 | Eugene-Marie COR, plenipotentiaire | ||
| Information source | 1 Author | ||
This sword is very similar to the presented on page 400 of Jean Lhoste's book 'Epees portees en France de l'origine a nos jours'. He presents it as the sword of the Lord Great Chamberlain of Napoleon III's civil house. There was, however but a single such person, from 1853 to 1870 : Napoleon Maret (1803-1898), duke of Bassano.
I have found other references to such swords on the internet (sales at Drouot and Beauvais encheres). They were listed either as 'court swords' or as that of officers of the civil house of Napoleon III.
Notice the tang button in the form of an Emperor's crown. This is replaced by another type of crown on this, very similar, sword. Looking at pictures from Empress Eugenie's crown, it seems that this could be a depiction of the later.
Pictures
