Hi Jim  

 ,
                 thank you very much for the added information, very much appreciated  

 . The Boxer rebellion is indeed a very complicated era of Chinese history  

 . 
     I suspect that the prolific manufacture of 'fake' Chinese weaponary has had an adverse effect on the collecting community ....my main concern when acquiring this sword was it's authenticity. I agree, it would be very interesting to see other examples and further information posted on this thread.
All the best
Kind Regards 
                      David