This is really an attractive cutlass, and of a style used for over a hundred years by this date, the variations of shells seems to have been loosely similar.
It is great to have the note identifying the type as scheepschouwer from the Dutch forms, as this obviously is with the VOC marked blade.
What intrigues me the most is the distinct VOC marking with the year date 1787, and the A, which as noted, does represent the kamer of Amsterdam, one of the chambers in the VOC heirarchy representing key ports. The others were Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhuizen, Middelburg and Hoorn.
It seems that the initial of the respective chamber was typically used to mark coins and cannon, but it seems unclear how widely these initials were used to mark materials, including other weapons.
The VOC marking does appear it seems on a number of sword blades which have been known, though in my experience these are virtually always 18th century, I have honestly never seen examples earlier. Also it has always seemed to me that the 'manufacture dates' are consistantly the same 'years', with only a few variations. 1767 is one and I think 1763, with this 1787 now added. I have never seen a VOC marking with an initial other than 'A' and those are relatively uncommon. The only other of the chambers I know to be distinctly associated with weaponry, particularly swords, was Hoorn.
In these later years of the 18th century, the VOC was in dramatic decline, and though originally a British ally, that quickly deteriorated with the profound support of the rebellion in America by the Dutch, ultimately resulting in the 4th Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784).
The Dutch, via VOC, were keen suppliers of weapons and goods to the Americans during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) through the entrepot of St. Eustatius, a Dutch trade hub island in the Antilles in the Caribbean.
My questions are, since there are so few examples of VOC blades with these 'dates', why were there so few. Certainly regular manufacture of blades would have produced a more extensive array of date years. Why only these latter years in 18th century, none before?
We know that often 'date years' on blades have often been discovered to be combinations with symbolic or significant meaning rather than an actual year. In this sense, I think Marks reference to a 'talismanic' number may have interesting possibility, perhaps not in that parlance, but as an important number. The year 1787 was the year in which the Continental Congress in America completed the U.S.Constitution, and perhaps the association might have had some connection...worth considering ? Could these dates be significant for events in this deeply troubled company by this time. By 1798 it was bankrupt, and there must have been strong emotions within it during these later years.
All best regards,
Jim
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