Victorian ... ?? sabre

[Mark]

Thanks, everyone. As always, the forumites are a fountain of information!

One further question: Any idea what the two side-by-side holes are in the guard (visible in the 5th photo in my first post, and the 3nd in my second post)? There is a similar pair at the point where the knuckle guard meets the pommel, barely visible in the 4th photo of my first post. They are hardly decorative, yet are so small I can't imagine their having anything tied through them. I noticed that celtan's very similar sword lacks them.

[Mark Cloke]

Originally Posted by Mark

Thanks, everyone. As always, the forumites are a fountain of information!

One further question: Any idea what the two side-by-side holes are in the guard (visible in the 5th photo in my first post, and the 3nd in my second post)? There is a similar pair at the point where the knuckle guard meets the pommel, barely visible in the 4th photo of my first post. They are hardly decorative, yet are so small I can't imagine their having anything tied through them. I noticed that celtan's very similar sword lacks them.

I think they are for fixing the leather liner that would have been present inside the guard.

I think you can see the fixing in one of the images on this example...http://www.oldswords.com/database/vi....php?id=132088

I guess the liner could have been attached differently by each manufacturer?