Latest Mystery Sword

sabertasche · 10th February 2006, 05:33 AM

Wow, guys, I think I've found a great forum

The hallmarks are clearest on the hilt of the sabre, a circle, bisected. the lower half divided into 2 equal portions. The top segment has a 13 in it. Above this mark is a "A". The left side of the mark is a 1 above a 4. On the right side of the mark is a 8 above a 0 - 1840?. Directly above this hallmark is a M&K.

The engraving appears to be scribed. There doesn't appear to be any detail in the flags except that they appear as swallow-tailed.

So far I've oiled the blade as there was a patch of active rust near the tip. I took off the blue scabbard fabric as it was held on with common office tape. As I mentioned there was pieces of red canvas like material under the mounts which I assume was the original covering. I plan to reglue and cover the scabbard and make it complete and clean again.

The sword mounts, I've sprayed with Windex glass cleaner. This has a light solvent which cuts through dirt, grime and nicotine. Windex also has a very small amount of ammonia in it which cleans the crud off the gilding without stripping the gilt off the silver.

I'm using a soft tooth brush to gently scrub off difficult areas. I going very slow as I want to preserve as much of the enamelling as possible.

Hoepfully I haven't offended anyone with my conservation methods. The sword is FILTHY and the scabbard fabric was rotting and smelled of car urine. I've kept it - sealed in a zip-lock bag but it had to go.

I want to thank everyone for thier help in interpreting my new sword.

Cheers,

greg

10th February 2006, 05:33 AM	#12
sabertasche Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 149	Wow, guys, I think I've found a great forum The hallmarks are clearest on the hilt of the sabre, a circle, bisected. the lower half divided into 2 equal portions. The top segment has a 13 in it. Above this mark is a "A". The left side of the mark is a 1 above a 4. On the right side of the mark is a 8 above a 0 - 1840?. Directly above this hallmark is a M&K. The engraving appears to be scribed. There doesn't appear to be any detail in the flags except that they appear as swallow-tailed. So far I've oiled the blade as there was a patch of active rust near the tip. I took off the blue scabbard fabric as it was held on with common office tape. As I mentioned there was pieces of red canvas like material under the mounts which I assume was the original covering. I plan to reglue and cover the scabbard and make it complete and clean again. The sword mounts, I've sprayed with Windex glass cleaner. This has a light solvent which cuts through dirt, grime and nicotine. Windex also has a very small amount of ammonia in it which cleans the crud off the gilding without stripping the gilt off the silver. I'm using a soft tooth brush to gently scrub off difficult areas. I going very slow as I want to preserve as much of the enamelling as possible. Hoepfully I haven't offended anyone with my conservation methods. The sword is FILTHY and the scabbard fabric was rotting and smelled of car urine. I've kept it - sealed in a zip-lock bag but it had to go. I want to thank everyone for thier help in interpreting my new sword. Cheers, greg