This rare sword would have been carried as a dress item by a cavalry officer from the mid 1780s to the early 1790s. There is a portrait recorded by Romney, painted in 1780, of one Robert Shore Milnes of the Royal Horse Guards, wearing the dismounted service uniform and such a sword.
There is a steel-mounted with ebony grip example of one of these in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. The sword appears in Nick Norman's preparatory catalogue of the cavalry swords in that collection (London Arms & Armour Society Journal, Vol IX, No 6, Dec 1979. He seems to have been the only author to have picked up that this is specifically a cavalry walking out sword, rather than infantry, engineers, etc. But then he was a great one for tying in portraits showing specific types of swords.
The grip is ivory. This blue-and-gilt blade (approximately 32.5") has the pre-1801 Royal Arms and the owner's initials are engraved on the frog stud in a monogram. It is a backsword blade of the type normally associated with spadroons of the era. The scabbard leather is, sadly, in fragments, but all the iron mounts are present. There are some serious rust nibbles on the edge of the blade and on the back about midway (see photo).
If you want to comment on this item—re quality, age, etc—please email me.
[Edged Weapons : Swords : British : 18th Century]
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