Interesting discussion about the hook. I myself have a Dutch cavalry officers saber model 1813. This one also has this strange hook (see pictures).
A few years ago there was a large auction of 556 Dutch trooper swords and sabers from the Rijksmuseum depot. This included one curious saber with two semicircular recesses on the tip. Years ago, this collection of sabers from the museum's depot was extensively researched and described by the Dutch researcher G Hof. I have attached his report on this strange saber. Since most of you can't read Dutch, I'll summarize it briefly:
He describes the blade and scabbard of a light cavalry saber No.1. Now you should know that the Netherlands bought a batch of m1796 pattern sabers in England. They arrived in Holland at the end of 1813. Deviating is that a British pattern 1821 light cavalry hilt is mounted on this specific example. According to him, this is not surprising because the Netherlands has conducted tests with, among other things, this type of saber. Unfortunately, Mr. Hof can also find no explanation for the strange recess.
Because Mr. Hof does not rule out the possibility that it may be a test saber, the semicircular recesses could also have been made for testing in my opinion.
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