I am not certain of the 1858 cutlass type, but in "Swords of the British Army"(Robson, 1975, p. 176-77) this pattern is shown as a pattern 1870 (reg. issued 1 Sep., 1870) 'sword, lead cutting'.
Brian Robson himself declared this sword as one of the most bizarre anomalies among British regulation patterns , and notes that this type was intended for use in gymnasia, the fancy term for sword exercises in this case.
The lead cutting term is unexplained, unless it referred to actually chopping into lead block for wrist exercise? in a recalling of the old 'eisenhauer' (iron hewing) blades in German parlance.
The mark is of course what is unfortunately termed in heraldry a 'blackamoor'.
These images of 'moors' heads are in parlance with the turban wearing 'Turks heads' also often seen in heraldry and other artistic license.
The term 'Moor' historically referred to Muslims in a collective reference as a result of the rule of Andalusian Spain by Moors for 700 years.
The term 'blackamoor' (OED) seems to have first come about in 1581.
As far as I can see, this type of 'Moors head' was used by Johannes Buegel in Solingen 1648-1688, possibly later.
Similar variations used by Peter Munsten the elder 1552-1628.
As noted, these 'Moors heads' were present in European heraldry, and are seen in Italian, French and Polish crests, and in Scotland there is a Moors head on the McClellan crest that allegedly derives from events in 16th c. Scotland.
In hopes of avoiding further discussion on the 'Moors head' with regard to current difficulties, I will emphasize that these markings were prevalent since medieval times in heraldry and as such often refer to prominent figures in European history with this ethnic background.
Here, on a 19th century blade, clearly it is a representation of 'quality' apparently using the markings of these 16th-17th c. German makers as a symbol of that. The arrows underneath compare to various British administrative markings used on blades but unclear on meaning.
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