Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - 1804 version spectacle or 'Trafalgar' Cutlass

CutlassCollector · 15th December 2019, 12:20 PM

Hi Wayne,

I agree with Mark - leave the blade clean. Be careful clearing the paint off, obviously on the ricasso, but also on the spine of the blade near the hilt as this is often where the makers name appears. There were a number of different Brit manufacturers that put the company name on the spine.

Looks like a great find! There are lots of fakes out there but you would have known as soon as you picked it up. The modern repros are clunky with all the weight forward but the 1804, for all its not very attractive lines, feels light and fast in the hand.
I have not handled a German Schnitzler & Kirshbaum cutlass that Mark mentions but these were, as I understand, made for private purchase merchant fleet use. So copied as a functional weapon not as a repro.

Regards, CC

15th December 2019, 12:20 PM	#8
CutlassCollector Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Scotland Posts: 321	Hi Wayne, I agree with Mark - leave the blade clean. Be careful clearing the paint off, obviously on the ricasso, but also on the spine of the blade near the hilt as this is often where the makers name appears. There were a number of different Brit manufacturers that put the company name on the spine. Looks like a great find! There are lots of fakes out there but you would have known as soon as you picked it up. The modern repros are clunky with all the weight forward but the 1804, for all its not very attractive lines, feels light and fast in the hand. I have not handled a German Schnitzler & Kirshbaum cutlass that Mark mentions but these were, as I understand, made for private purchase merchant fleet use. So copied as a functional weapon not as a repro. Regards, CC