Images(5)

Officer's Semi-Basket Hilted Spadroon

Date1765-1775

OriginEngland

MediumIron/steel, wood, shagreen, buff leather, and copper

DimensionsOverall: 39 1/8"; Hilt: 6 3/8"; Blade: 33 1/8" x 1 1/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2025-112

DescriptionMounted officer's steel semi-basket hilted spadroon with an openwork heart-shaped counterguard, three scrolled outboard branches, and one scrolled inboard branch. Each branch is swollen and engraved at its lower end in imitation of a rattlesnake's tail and the top ones on either side of the knucklebow are engraved like rudimentary serpent's heads. An ovoid pommel with a capstan tops a wooden grip wrapped with white shagreen and bound with three strands of twisted copper wire of two thicknesses and twisted in opposing directions. A plain ferrule secures the bottom of the grip. The bottom portion of the original buff leather hilt liner survives, and is edged in vacant stitch holes. Its straight, single-edged blade has one broad fuller, a narrow ricasso, and a false edge.Label TextCalled spadroons, these swords were a distinct class of weapon defined by a straight blade with one or two cutting edges. Elegant, well-designed, and fashionable, they were exceedingly popular with British officers serving in the last half of the 18th century. This example has a long blade and was likely carried by a mounted officer, or a very tall one.

Scrolling bars protect the user's sword hand. The uppermost bar on each side has its ends engraved to represent the head and tail of a rattlesnake, a possible American reference.