It seems the lowly briquet, one of the commonest of 'other ranks' weapons in volume, for that very reason is often the most difficult to effectively identify. These cast brass hilt hangers seem to have come about in around the end of the 18th century and were used by virtually every major power as a cheap, servicable sidearm. They were known readily as the French 'briquet' and copied by Great Britain as artillery gunners swords, used also by Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany in the various states especially Prussia, Spain, and probably others I have not named.
These were in use throughout the 19th century as far as is known, most likely in colonial circumstances after they became obsolete with regulation weapons in these armies.
Since British blades typically had the board of ordnance marks on the blade, that can be eliminated....but these markings, most likely issue and controllers stamps it would be hard to attribute. There is always the possibility these are later reissues, incredible as it might seem as there were in various circumstances probably tons of these type weapons around.
In the early 20th century, Francis Bannerman bought these huge stockpiles of weapons, with many simply being scrapped. I believe later, after the 'antique' phenomenon became more widely developed, they even began producing copies of these simple forms.
In my opinion, to identify these beyond what they are, simple briquets, is a pretty tall order without more identifiable markings, but the photos and descriptions of markings are much appreciated. Perhaps the unusual quillon terminal on one might offer clues.No need to reply, just wanted to add comments.
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