It's not much...

My smallsword arrived! I expected this thing to be a wimpy little frenchy sword, but this thing is MEAN. The point is like a needle, you could poke a hole straight through somebody with a flick of the wrist. It weighs virtually nothing too. The ricasso is lableled "IGB" which is the mark for "Johann and Clemens Bögel of Solingen". They appear to have been active from the late 1700's to early 1800's. There's other flowers and decorations on the blade but they don't seem to mean anything.

Here's the interesting part...



It looks like there was once an emblem on the guard but that it's been removed. I've read this happened to swords that had the Fleur De Lis on them during Napoleon's time or during the French Republic. Soldiers would remove the symbol of the old monarchy from their swords to show their loyalty to the new regime. So that might help date the sword, as it must have been made during the monarchy and then used through republican/Napoleon's reign. History is interesting!
 
That's all we get? One picture? Nothing of the whole thing or the handle or some interesting back ground?

I feel empty and unfulfilled. I have needs ya know? Break out that camera again and get back to work.
 
Thats what I was thinking:yawn:
Bawanna said:
That's all we get? One picture? Nothing of the whole thing or the handle or some interesting back ground?

I feel empty and unfulfilled. I have needs ya know? Break out that camera again and get back to work.
Click to expand...
 
I know, I know... more pictures are forthcoming. But when I saw the scratched off fleur de lis my only thought was hopping on Google to see what the story is behind this thing. Here's a couple more pictures I took before I was overcome with curiousity

Here's the tip of the sword which is still quite sharp albeit a bit bent. The whole blade is triangular in shape but all three sides are fullered so it's nice and light.

Maker's mark. I don't know why it's I G B for Johann and Clemens Boegel. I understand the I being substituted for the J because of latin and whatnot, but why does Clemens get a G?



Here's an example of some of the decoration on the blade. It's really light and doesn't show up to well unless you get right up on it. I'm going to clean it up a bit more and examine each decoration to see if any is a regimental emblem or something instead of just French frippery.

 
And here's the whole sword next to my Prussian Degen for a sense of proportion. It's thin but it's pretty dang long.



And here's a closeup of the burning bomb on the pommel

 
wow blue, the sword is all that I hoped, you really won a prize, love the history!
 
WoW! Scarry is right. love the pommel. I have heard of these triangular shaped swords used as trench knives as well. Maybe they were modified swords?
 
Now we're talking. I feel fulfilled. I loved the term French Frippery, kind of rolls off the tongue.

That's sweet. As usual I don't know much of anything about em but it's cool and the research is fun and nearly as rewarding as the prize itself.
 
Thanks! These swords are a dime a dozen, though I've only seen one other one that had the fleur de lis removed. I don't know if that makes it more valuable or not, but it definitely makes it more interesting to me.

I think those triangular trench knives are made from old triangular bayonets. I think I'm going to put a cork or something on the end. You could very easily and casually poke a hole in someone by accident. If the tip was hanging off the edge of table and you brushed up against it, you'd have a mean case of tetanus.
 
Almost forgot to mention the quillion's broken off. I assume this happened by accident, but I'm going to pretend it happened at Waterloo

 
Jeesh, when it rains it pours. My Nimcha just came in too.



It's quite dirty and needs serious cleaning, but so far I don't see any marks on the blade. It's surprisingly thin, almost in Machete territory. The blade's nice and flexy, though. The previous owner must have known this because instead of shipping it in a box he just wrapped it in about 3 inches of bubble wrap. I'm sure an untempered blade would have snapped.

 
Darn your a veritable vacuum cleaner for cools blades lately. Coming at ya right and left. Good for you.
 
the man that prowls the internet is rewarded ! still paying mandau payments, but one month sooooon
 
Yup, pretty pleased with this last lot. Although I expected the Nimcha to be more heavily built, I bet it isn't all that old.

One more decoration from the small sword. I've seen these gates on a lot of French swords, not sure why they put it there...

 
The guard on that Nimcha look remarkably similar to the guards on Howard Wallace's Liberty series knives. Not the handguard part but on the blade.
 
Hmm, never heard of that one... I'll have to google it. I think the Nimcha hilt (which is Moroccan) was inspired by some earlier European style hilt but I forget which country. I do recall reading that the style was en vogue for English sabers for awhile, but I don't know if it originated there or not.
 
Here's a link to the Liberty Series. Not quite as close a resemblance as I'd recalled. I probably shouldn't have looked at these again, temptation and all that.

Mr Wallace designed them and had the kami's build them. Nice work as usual.
 
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