British Early 19th Century Light Infantry (Shropshire?) Officer Mameluke Sword
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $750.00

Original era manufacture. This handsome old sword is a bit of a mystery to us. Evidently the adoption of the Mameluke style sword by British officers happened after the Egyptian Campaign during the Napoleonic Wars. The Duke of Wellington is said to have preferred this pattern, giving rise to many officers purchasing their own examples of the Mameluke pattern. Generally attributed to cavalry officers, this example has a hunting horn emblem on both sides of the guard, which we feel indicates light infantry. Perhaps one of our more knowledgeable collector pals can set us straight. At any rate the weapon exhibits a 30 inch curved polished steel blade with a quill-back spine and an upper cutting edge extending eight inches back from the point. The blade has a high polish finish with no etching visible (if it ever had any), with no nicks in the cutting edge. The blade measures 30mm in width across the ricasso. Simple straight bar guard of gilded brass, bone or ivory grips with a repaired section on the reverse side of the pommel which looks to be a carved piece of wood. Brass scabbard with two carrying rings. There are a few very small dents in the scabbard surface, nothing major, really clean for its age.