All steel with 21” broad, slightly curved widely fullered blade with long false edge, undecorated as made. The grip and guard finely pierced in a foliage matrix. The grip with three graduated oval medallions below pierced bows. The guard with a fourth at its center. The grip edges chiseled in bands matching the piercing. A civilian weapon from the turbulent period leading up to the French Revolution. Its quality indicates an owner of the privileged class, tens of thousands of whom were executed. Generally of “hunting sword” form, it compares to Blackmore #35, preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
