AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 109 



Columbia helmeted, with a shield in her rig^ht hand and a lance in 

 her left. The reverse of the blade is decorated in a similar manner 

 with the figure of a sailor raising the American flag, a foul anchor, 

 the letters " U. S. N.," a naval officer using a telescope, and various 

 floral designs. The grip is unusually large and is covered with 

 fishskin wound with 15 turns of gold wire. The pommel is of the 

 Phrygian helmet type, the lower part covering the grip being dec- 

 orated in high relief with the head of Neptune. The end bears a 

 United States shield and is surrounded by a circle of 14 emeralds; 

 the whole is surmounted by an eagle combating a serpent coiled 

 about fasces. 



The guard consists of a complicated design of oak leaves terminat- 

 ing at the pommel in a marine monster and expanding into a broad 

 quillon. which terminates above the blade in a sea horse's head. 

 Half of the quillon is solid ; the other half consists of an openwork 

 oak-leaf design with a medallion in the center engraved with a view 

 of the city of Boston in 1862. The scabbard, which is finished in 

 silver gilt, bears in the center a group of naval war trophies in heavy 

 relief; the point is decorated with two oak sprays intertwined and 

 the top with the monogram " C." W." in diamond chips surmounted 

 by two marine monsters and an Indian brave within an oval. The 

 reverse is inscribed : " Presented to Captain Charles Wilkes, U. S. N., 

 by the city of Boston as a tribute of honor for his eminent services 

 as an officer in the United States navy and for his gallant and 

 patriotic actions as Commander of the U. S. steamer San Jacinto 

 in arresting Messrs. Mason and Slidell on board the British mail 

 steamer Trent, November 8, 1861," and " Committee : Joseph M. 

 Wightman, Mayor; Alderman Simon Pierce, Chairman; Thomas P. 

 Kice, Elisha T. Wilson, Common Council ; Joseph H. Bradley, Presi- 

 dent; John D. Ball, Benjamin C. Boardman, Justin Jones, Joseph 

 D. Henshaw, Marion C. Fitch." This sword was presented to the 

 National Museum in 1914 by Miss Jane Wilkes. 



SWORDS OWNED BY REAR ADMIRAL JOHN W. PHILIP 



The National Museum collection includes a number of exceptionally 

 fine and interesting presentation swords of the period of the Spanish- 

 American War. Among these is one ^^ that was presented to Rear 

 Admiral John W. Philip by the school children of Texas. The 

 blade is straight with a medium groove, and the obverse is decorated 

 with crossed swords flanked by long sprays of ivy and 13 stars. The 

 reverse is similarly decorated near the point, and the remainder of 

 this side of the blade is occupied by the inscription : " From the 



^ Length, 94 cm. Blade, 19.3 cm. long, 2 cm. wide. Inscribed " Tiffany & Co., N. Y " 

 PI. 32, fig. 4. 



