Lot 510
A 1796 PATTERN CAVALRY OFFICER SWORD AND SCABBARD. With a 70cm curved blade with allover etched decoration including a royal crown and crest, standing figure of Britannia, indistinctly marked for '..bson ... colt .. London', with a sloping guard, curved langets, stirrup hilt and rounded pommel enclosing a wire bound fish skin grip, in a steel scabbard, 85cm overall length.
The following information has been offered regarding this sword:
A Napoleonic Osborn Flank Officer's Sabre. A 'Flank' Officer's Sabre by Henry Osborn & Pall Mall London. Based on the 1796 Pattern Light Cavalry Sabre but sized down for weight and dress. Henry Osborn was recorded to be at Pall Mall during C.1803-1808. This is most likely a cavalry officer's dress/frock sabre. With a 70cm curved blade with all over etched decoration including; a royal crown and English arms of 1801-1816, standing figure of Britannia, marked 'H Osborn & Pall Mall, London', with sloping D guard, small curved langets, and rounded backstrap enclosing a wire bound fish skin grip, in a steel scabbard, 85cm overall length.
This style of sabre is also highly inspired by Shamshirs, following the 1798-1801 Egyptian Campaign, copying the Mameluke-style being unfullered and highly curved. The term 'Flank Officer' refers to the Flank Companys of Light Infantry and Grenadiers, but the term 'Flank Officer's Sabre' commonly refers to a light-weight, highly curved sword of the Georgian-Period.
