Quote:
Originally Posted by corrado26
By "Mervyn Milton, The policeman's lot, London 1985, p. 108" one can read, that "the actual briquet never made it across the English Channel. This type of weapon does not appear in the UK. Prey pieces in a new way are not known. The "Police Swords and Hangers" are complex pieces, mostly made at "Parker, Field & Sons, 233 Holborn, London". So the sword in question should come from the continent, where it was in use in lots of countries as nearly all German states, France, Switzerland, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
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Thank you Udo, excellent cite and thanks for the source detail. The swords for civil service are another area which is it seems not well covered in research material, so this reference is much appreciated.
It seems there is somewhat a consensus that the so called 'briquet' from the Continent was never part of the armory in Great Britain. It is almost bizarre that I never pursued this beyond simply assuming that Wilkinson and Blair in their books and classified these as 'foot artillery gunner' sword, British, was correct.
I think it can be established that the briquet, as a weapon form generally used in Great Britain indeed never happened, as shown in the Morrison article I added in previous post (thanks to Bryce who found it originally).
However, the point being made here is that in these times in pre Napoleonic campaigns England, there was a pallor of fear of French invasion. At this point there was no standardization or regulation of military arms and there was a large push for civil readiness which led to the participation of local artisans, and producers of many wares in making supplies and even weaponry in an ersatz manner.
That is what in my opinion makes this sword so unique, the PS initials align compellingly with Paul Storr, an English precious metals artisan. That places this weapon SOUNDLY on the English side of the channel.
There are many cases of course, where weapons became popular outside regulation or known record at large. The fact that a very limited degree of weapons in England were copied from French forms in a number of elements such as the Woolley & Deakin swords with fluted ebony grips (a French affectation) the 'Montmorency' blade, also of French association. ...suggests that the influences were there, even if not largely apparent.
These are the thoughts I am operating on with this idea, and I am very grateful for these kinds of detail which can test the theory objectively.
Thank you again.