British Naval Sword in Scabbard

...; presented by Lord Derby to the Dutch Ambassador in London and forwarded by the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (Department of Foreign Affairs) to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, September 1877;¹¹HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, Exh. 11/9/1877 N8. transferred to the museum, 1883

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-1380

British naval officer’s sword with scabbard.

Slightly curved sabre blade fullered on both sides, with a false edge but no heel (Wilkinson blade). It is etched with foliage, a crown over a foul anchor and on the other side the royal arms. It bears the manufacturers’ signature and a proof mark. The sword has a white sharkskin grip bound with copper wire, a solid half basket hilt with a crown over a foul anchor, a lion’s head pommel. The shell on the reverse folds up against the top locket, where it engages with a small stud. The hilt has a gold and blue porte-épée. The scabbard has a gilt brass chase with shoe. The middle and top locket both have a ring for the belt, and all lockets are decorated with foliage patterns.

The sword was presented by Lord Derby to the Dutch ambassador in London in 1877 as an example of the naval officer’s sword in use by the British Navy.²²HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, Exh. 11/9/1877 N9. These swords were purchased by the officers themselves at their own expense.

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1380; W.E. May and P.G.W. Annis, Swords for Sea Service, 2 vols., London 1970, fig. 9, p. 281 (sword cutler), p. 339, no. 32 (proof mark)

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Gillot & Hassel, British Naval Sword in Scabbard, London, 1868 - 1877', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.245185