This example represents the basket hilted cavalry sword which evolved to become the iconic weapon of the English Civil Wars. It incorporates the fundamental form of the mortuary hilt which was decorated with portraits of Charles Iand Henrietta, or often, less specific portraits to avoid confrontation. It evidently was part of a contract, another example from which is in the collection of the Tower of London, illustrated in Swords and Daggers in the Tower of London, plate 48b. The civil unrest and subsequent Civil Wars in England resulted in the production of thousands of swords in the 1640s. Blade length: 33 3/4