Hi Colin,
This is really an interesting piece, though it is obviously as noted 'put together'. The script name on the back of the blade is puzzling as the only 'Runkel' I have been familiar with is J.J.Runkel, who was one of the German contacts in London who actually imported and furbished blades from Solingen. There are many British blades of the latter 18th to early 19th century with these markings, and Runkel, along with Gill, Osborne and others were key figures in the so called 'sword scandals' of that period.
I have never heard of a TF Runkel, and it is interesting that the script name is applied in the same location and fashion of the JJ Runkel marked blades.
The blade itself does indeed appear to be a cut down straight cavalry type blade, though it could be that of a spadroon, or straight sabre of this same period. The Dieu et mon Droit is a French worded motto, essentially God and my right, which appears in the arms of a number of British military regiments in long standing tradition from medieval times and heraldry.
I would offer as speculation, aside from the assumption that this very well could be a theatrical piece of the 19th century, that it may also be a specially fashioned piece for use as an accoutrement associated with military fraternity or possibly even Masonic regalia. Naturally there are always thoughts of deliberate deception to be considered, but frankly this piece is too well assembled and fashioned with no apparant effort to alter the nature of the blade. This would suggest perhaps a favored blade either damaged or from a sword, possibly a heirloom that had basically fallen apart.
I have come across in many instances, old military swords that have been refurbished into neoclassical or traditional types of weapons, and used in Masonic Lodges by either the Tyler or as other ceremonial regalia. While there were certainly adequate commercial producers of such Masonic regalia after the Civil War, the reverence often held by seasoned military men for such venerated heirloom weapons is easily understood.
Naturally, one would expect some Masonic symbolism evident if this was such a weapon, but it seems that often that the significance imbued in the heritage of the blade itself might preclude such embellishment.
Again, purely speculation, but based on numerous instances I have encountered in various researches over the years.
All the best,
Jim
