Yesterday I took this sword back to the man I bought it from and swapped it for a masonic sword. A horrible recently-made sword (it has a gauche Toledo blade and a yellow plastic handle under the wire on the grip.)
I don't even like masonic swords. But really - for me a poor piece of authenticity of any kind is better than a quality fake.
This guy is an old man who doesn't generally deal in swords and for some reason yesterday he suddenly remembered where they had come from – a ballet company.
So Jim was right. It was a theatrical item. A very well made one. I suspect made in the later 19th or early 20th century, and probably by a real sword maker. Certainly, the scabbard seemed authentic. This was not a contemporary re-enactment piece.
You don't find many old replicas - not here in Australia.
End of story. You live and learn.
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