18th Century Machete ?

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
This may be of some interest. I believe that crowned G.R. stamped machets/machetes/cutlass blades were exported to the 'colonies' even after the Georgian period had ended the stamp being looked at as a sign of quality rather than a period designation thus the blade you have could be earlier or later difficult to say.
Regards,
Norman.

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi,
This may be of some interest. I believe that crowned G.R. stamped machets/machetes/cutlass blades were exported to the 'colonies' even after the Georgian period had ended the stamp being looked at as a sign of quality rather than a period designation thus the blade you have could be earlier or later difficult to say.
Regards,
Norman.

Yes , mine is most like 357 in your illustration. I take your point about the export to the Colonies , but that tended ( at least with firearms and bayonets ) to be of earlier patterned stuff now obsolete & superceded at 'home' , rather than earlier marks being stamped in order to enhance the perception of quality. I am not saying that the practice didnt go on , but the forging of Government Inspection marks ( which is what the Royal Cipher + number is ) was and is a serious criminal offence.

[M ELEY]

I am aware of the machete pattern existing in the period of which we speak (first half 19th century, GR III/IV and VR period) as seen in Brinckherhoff's book, but none with British markings. Could these be from cut-down sword blades? The profile and beefy tip on them reminds me of exported GR examples that we've come across on the forum over the years, noteworthy being a British blade mounted on a Brazilian cutlass in the past. England (and Germany, of course) were exporting blades to the Americas, and in particular, the Spanish colonies. Thus, a Georgian blade on a traditional Spanish-style machete sword seems reasonable-

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

I am aware of the machete pattern existing in the period of which we speak (first half 19th century, GR III/IV and VR period) as seen in Brinckherhoff's book, but none with British markings. Could these be from cut-down sword blades? The profile and beefy tip on them reminds me of exported GR examples that we've come across on the forum over the years, noteworthy being a British blade mounted on a Brazilian cutlass in the past. England (and Germany, of course) were exporting blades to the Americas, and in particular, the Spanish colonies. Thus, a Georgian blade on a traditional Spanish-style machete sword seems reasonable-

Yes I would agree with much of your thesis , and I have attached a picture of the 'Georgian' machete , alongside a brass hilted sidearm which came from a maritime collection in Liverpool . This sidearm purports to be an early 19th C British cutlass as used by merchant ships . What struck me is the similarity in blade form to the cutlass - particularly the single fuller close to the pipe back. I can well imagine that this illustrates your point of a British made sword blade recycled as a rehilted machete at a later date. Unfortunately the sidearm id too pitted to discern any markings.
However by contrast I illustrate the 'Georgian' machete alongside a Victorian marked machete . This is clearly a purpose made machete style blade and certainly bears no relationship to any British sword . So from this it must be taken that machetes were a Government issue item at least from the Victorian period .

[CutlassCollector]

Further to Norman's reply. This is a page from Schnitzler & Kirschbaum's catalogue of c.1850 which I copy from Boarders Away.

Note the 1700's style cutlass at the top and the 1804 pattern underneath it - makes you wonder, when we have reproductions themselves over 150 years old - also the use of cabalistic symbols on many blades.
Solingen cutlers had no qualms about including these ancient markings or the GR symbol to indicate a quality blade to the export market. I'm not sure what the numbers signify - possibly model numbers - although there are two marked 25 which are significantly different.

Regards, CC.

[thinreadline]

Yes that's extremely interesting , and does appear to solve the case convincingly. Much appreciated .

[CutlassCollector]

I did wonder if the 24 indicated a 24 inch blade as the two 25's appear about an inch longer. Did your 65cm refer to the total length or only the blade?
A long shot, I know, but it seems worth the trouble to ask if your blade is 22 inches.
CC