AMERICAN SECRET SOCIETY SWORD

Knights of Pythias. Early 20th century. Plated hilt with knight’s head pommel and dove form quillons. Shell guard with U R flanking a lily. Wire wrapped leather-covered grip (some wear to leather high spots). 28” double edged blade with owner’s maker’s name otherwise, unmarked. The Scabbard with high relief tasks of Hercules motif and Pythian devices. The Knights of Pythias was chartered in 1864 and among the first after the Civil War. These organizations provided their members a number of benefits from social status to, in extreme cases, physical backing against their adversaries.