Mark, concerning the link to this eaglehead sword, I wanted to add that this seems to fall into the type of 'regency' swords that were furbished for court or official dress wear. A number of years ago I was able to handle a sword that had belonged to the family of Gen. Santa Anna, and had been his of course. It seems as I recall it had a hilt with eaglehead and distinctly recall that it had something to do with Oaxaca on the blade. It was in the stored holdings of a museum in a safe, and I didn't get the opportunity for photos.
Oaxaca was contiguous to the west of the the key port of Vera Cruz, one of the extremely important ports of call in the 'Spanish Main' trade network, and perhaps this was a presentation piece to him?
In any case, it was yet another instance of the eaglehead used in these early times of the Mexican Republic.
All very best regards,
Jim
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