PART 2. EUROPEAN MILITARY AND NAVAL 



SWORDS 



In addition to the collection of American swords, the National 

 Museum has a number of European military and naval swords. 

 Some of these weapons derive historical interest from the fact that 

 they were owned by United States or foreign military officers. 

 Others are lacking in personal significance and are interesting merely 

 as types of weapons, 



ENGLISH SWORDS 



The English swords played a more important role in the colonial 

 history of the United States than those of any other country and 

 will therefore be considered first. The three types of these swords 

 (hanger, colichemarde, and small sword) belonging to the period of 

 the eighteenth century represented in the national collection have 

 already been described (p. 15). In addition to the English swords 

 of these three types, the Museum has a number of specimens of the 

 latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth 

 century, which represents the period of transition during which the 

 civilian sword passed out of existence and the military and naval 

 sword came into being. This is true also of the swords of other 

 foreign countries in the collection. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HANGERS 



Among the English swords are two small hunting swords of the 

 hanger type. One of these ^ has the usual curved blade and a cone- 

 shaped ivory grip terminating in a pommel covered with a helmet- 

 shaped piece of silver plate decorated with the head of a monster 

 with protruding tongue. This sword was presented to the National 

 Museum in 1926 by Mrs. Francis T. Redwood. This series includes 

 a second sword - of the same type. A third hanger ^ of the same 

 general description but with a longer blade is included in the Alfred 

 F. Hopkins collection. It greatly resembles the sword owned by 

 General Washington previously described. The grip is made of 

 wood, is cone-shaped, and is decorated with spiral grooves wound 

 with seven turns of silver wire. The quillons consist of a small 



1 Length, 75.8 cm. Blade, 61 cm. loug, 2.5 cm. wide. PI. 33, fig. 1. 

 =* Length, 75 cm. Blade, 61 cm. long, 2.7 cm. wide. PI. 33, flg. 3. 

 3 Length, 88.5 cm. Blade, 74 cm. long, 2.8 cm. wide. PI. 33, fig. 2. 



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