AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 131 



in each of the four sides for about two-thirds the length. The re- 

 mainder of the blade, which is tapered to a very fine point, is plain. 

 The obverse is stamped " B " below a crown within an oval and 

 engraved in script " Coulaux & Cie " ; the reverse is engraved in 

 script " Manifie de Klingenthal." The grip, which is cylindrical in 

 shape, is wound closely with fine steel wires and with IT turns of 

 large copper wire. The pommel is globular, and the guard consists 

 of a flat brass strip terminating above the blade in a quillon of the 

 same type with a button-shaped top. The counterguard is formed 

 of two large oval brass plates, the one on the reverse side having a 

 hinge. These two swords were transferred to the National Museum 

 in 1919 by the War Department. 



TWENTIETH CENTURY INFANTRY OFFICERS' SWORDS 



The French infantry officers' swords of the latter part of the 

 nineteenth century are represented in the National Museum collec- 

 tion by three specimens of the model of 1882, which were manufac- 

 tured soon after the World War. These swords ^^ have slender, 

 straight, 2-edged, oval-shaped blades with a narrow deep groove 

 on each side. The reverse is inscribed near the hilt : " Manufacture 

 Nationale d'armes de Chatellerault Fevrier 1919 Oifer d'lnfrie Mle. 

 1882." The grip is painted black and is decorated with 12 vertical 

 grooves wound with silver cord. It is surmounted by a plain convex 

 steel strip terminating in a button-shaped pommel with three ridges. 

 The guard consists of a steel strip with three branches uniting at the 

 blade and terminating above in a circular quillon. These swords 

 were transferred to the Museum in 1920 by the War Department. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY CAVALRY SABERS 



The development of the French cavalry saber for enlisted men 

 during the nineteenth century is of much interest to collectors of 

 swords, and the National Museum has a number of specimens illus- 

 trating this phase of sword makoig. The Alfred F. Hopkins col- 

 lection contains a number of swords of this type. They are divided 

 into two classes — those with curved blades and those with straight 

 blades. Specimens of the first type include a saber ^° of about 1800 

 with a short, exceedingly wide, and heavy curved blade. The grip 

 is covered with leather and is surmounted by a plain convex iron 

 strip, which terminates in a flat pommel. The guard is a slender 

 iron strip terminating in straight quillons at right angles to the 

 blade. A number of other French cavalry sabers of the nine- 

 teenth century all have curved blades with a broad shallow groove 



^' Length, 98.5 cm. Blade. 85 cm. long, 2.2 cm. wide. PI. 39, fig. 9. 

 *" Length, 88.2 cm. Blade, 74.2 cm. long, 4.7 cm. wide. 



