View Single Post
Old 1st March 2009, 05:23 PM   #7
celtan
Member
 
celtan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: PR, USA
Posts: 679
Default

It is a light cavalry sabre a-la-houngraise of the hussar (houzzard, hussard) type. This type of blade was quite common in Europe since the late 1770s, taking from the original polish-hungarian-russian-turkish fast cavalry units of preceding times. The blade type saw use by Hussars, Lancers, Chasseurs and even Flying Artillery Units. They were made in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Norway etc... You'd need to check any marking on the weapon for further info.

The katzbalger or cat-skinner was the preferred short weapon of the swiss knights-of-the-land (lanssknecht/lasquenetes) mercenary units, but were also used by german infantry. This particular example's blade tip is too pointy, suggesting probably a recent manufacture. All the katzbalgers I have seen sport a rounded tip, either because of design or sheer wear.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ilias
Hi everyone.
These swords are up for sale.Can you please inform me if they are original? The first two pistures depict a shord that is claimed to be Hussar's sabre. Do you think it might be Polish? In the third picture there is a short sword. Is it any chance that it might be German?
Sorry for the image quality, it is the best I can do.
Any help would be appreciated!
celtan is offline