French Boarding Cutlass or Briquet?

Madnumforce · 8th December 2017, 03:27 AM

This is really a magnificent briquet. For 50$, you could practically have stolen it, it would make no difference.

But it's an oddball. I count 31 ribs on the grip. The An IX had 36, the An XI had 28, and the 1816 had 21 ribs. But it's got the quillion of the An XI and 1816 patterns. Also, the blade is styled after some "custom" versions of "à la chasseur" sabers, with this typical clip-point blade, and the engraving is way too classy for such a supposedly cheap weapon, nevertheless not ressembling what would be traditionally found on a French blade (as far as I know). But it's the correct blade length for a briquet (given that they had been made in a variety of sizes and shapes, as it was a popular saber among bourgeois of the National Guard), and an incorrect size for anything else. So it takes a bit of everything, being an infantry briquet, with a blade styled after light cavalry sabers, and engravings of relatively prestigious rank/honor. One thing is for sure: it's not conform to any regulation!

Superb piece nonetheless. Congratulation on your find.

8th December 2017, 03:27 AM	#6
Madnumforce Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 28	This is really a magnificent briquet. For 50$, you could practically have stolen it, it would make no difference. But it's an oddball. I count 31 ribs on the grip. The An IX had 36, the An XI had 28, and the 1816 had 21 ribs. But it's got the quillion of the An XI and 1816 patterns. Also, the blade is styled after some "custom" versions of "à la chasseur" sabers, with this typical clip-point blade, and the engraving is way too classy for such a supposedly cheap weapon, nevertheless not ressembling what would be traditionally found on a French blade (as far as I know). But it's the correct blade length for a briquet (given that they had been made in a variety of sizes and shapes, as it was a popular saber among bourgeois of the National Guard), and an incorrect size for anything else. So it takes a bit of everything, being an infantry briquet, with a blade styled after light cavalry sabers, and engravings of relatively prestigious rank/honor. One thing is for sure: it's not conform to any regulation! Superb piece nonetheless. Congratulation on your find.