12 BULLETIN 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



variety of form and only a small degree of ornamentation. The 

 swords of this period were for the most part heavy, clumsy, and 

 designed for war purposes. With the coming of modern times, how- 

 ever, the sword was developed into a great variety of types as regards 

 form, shape, and size, and soon became so ornate that specimens are 

 now highly prized as examples of the art of the metal workers of 

 the time. This second stage of sword making extended, roughly 

 speaking, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries and prac- 

 tically ended with the cessation of the use of the sword by individ- 

 uals as an accessory to their ordinary attire. 



Since the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of swords 

 in Europe has been confined, for the most part, to military and 

 naval purposes, and much of their former artistic character and 

 individual interest has been lost. The distinction, however, between 

 the various types of swords used in different lands and in the various 

 branches of the military and naval services of those countries, has 

 given rise to sufficient variety of design to perpetuate the value of 

 the sword as an object, of national art and historic interest. The 

 European military and naval swords described in the final section 

 of this bulletin represent types produced during the nineteenth 

 century in England, France, Germany, Kussia, and Spain. Many 

 of them were owned by prominent United States Army officers; 

 others by distinguished foreign generals. These personal swords 

 increase the value of this portion of the collection and render its 

 historical interest as great as that section that includes the American 

 swords. 



The basis of classification of the European swords described herein 

 has been the attribution of each specimen to the country in which 

 it was manufactured. In some cases, however, the same types of 

 swords were used in a number of countries. The marks on the 

 blades usually indicate the place of manufacture, but these are often 

 lacking. The decorations on the blades are frequently at variance 

 with the marks and indicate that the blades were made in one coun- 

 try and decorated in another. The designs of the blades and the 

 hilts often do not agree as regards the national origin of the swords 

 of which they form a part. 



The English swords in the National Museum collection illustrate 

 these features of sword making, since the blades of many of them 

 that bear British emblems also carry inscriptions indicating that 

 they were manufactured in Germany or Spain. Many swords were 

 undoubtedly imported into England from the Continent, and the 

 swords identified with the military and naval services of this coun- 

 try are less homogeneous in character and less national in design 

 than the military and naval swords of any other European country. 



