British Indian Short Sabre, pre-1855
Slightly curved double-edged blade with spear point, no fuller or ricasso, both faces slightly convex for a lens-shaped cross-section. No leather washer, steel P-shaped hilt with faceted knucklebow including sword knot slit and comma-shaped quillon, wide semioval langets, steel ferrule, backstrap and integral pommel cap. Ribbed wooden grip covered with shagreen bound with wire, a section of black leather at the base. Black leather scabbard with steel throat and chape pieces, the throat piece with oval frog stud. Blade 26 inches in length, 33mm wide at the shoulder, the sword 30 7/8 inches overall.
The blade is unmarked. The scabbard is stamped next to the seam with ‘BO’, the stamp of Board of Ordnance ownership, as well as a broad arrow with ‘I’, which is an Indian stores mark.
The government markings on its scabbard suggest that this sword saw official service in India. This model of sword is not a standard Pattern with its design specified by the military: instead it was probably a commercial design purchased ‘off the shelf’ from a private manufacturer. It has an unusual combination of an unfullered blade, which reminds me somewhat of the British circa 1845 ‘Dundas’ artillery hangers: this blade is the exact same width, albeit 1½ inches shorter and unlike the Dundas it does not have a flat spine, instead having a false edge running all the way to the shoulder. This atypical blade is paired with a hilt and grip in the style of a Georgian sabre.
Overall it seems to sit somewhere between simple British hangers and more elaborate sabres, similar in form to other sidearms produced for infantry and/or foot artillery in India like this piece also for sale here with a very similar blade. There exist numerous examples of both arms produced in India influenced by British designs, and arms produced in Britain specifically for the Indian market, and this could be either, although I would incline towards British production.
The Board of Ordnance was constituted by Royal Warrant in 1673, continuing the work of the Office of Ordnance which had been in existence since at least the 1460s. It was responsible, broadly, for managing military installations and supplying equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Army and Navy, including the critical task of ensuring a national gunpowder supply. It founded and controlled the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers, and grew to become the second largest government department after the Treasury.
In the Crimean War the British Army suffered from wide-ranging logistics failures, for which the Board of Ordnance was held partly responsible. Reform was demanded and in the process the Ordnance Board Transfer Act 1855 moved all previous responsibilities of the Board, including stores, into the War Department, and the marking of a broad arrow with ‘BO’ was replaced with ‘WD’ thereafter.
While old stores would not have been remarked and the old version might have persisted for a while during the reorganisation, we can be reasonably sure that this sword’s production predates the demise of the Board of Ordnance. I would tentatively date this piece to the 1840s: compare this non-standard cutlass also for sale here, which is identically Board of Ordnance-marked for Indian service and has a very similar blade, with a rarely-seen manufacture date of 1844.
The sword has signs of previous cleaning, with polishing marks on the blade and the scabbard fittings in particular polished bright (except in recesses like under the frog stud) and possibly restored – I note that the portion of the grip nearest the pommel is covered with black leather rather than shagreen, which may be a replacement.
The blade is unsharpened with no edge damage, light speckled patination overall and some light scratching towards the tip, and the previously mentioned polishing marks. The hilt and backstrap have some very light cleaned peppered pitting and spots of patination in places, the ferrule has only some tiny spots of light patination. The grip is solidly peened, there is some fractional movement to the hilt and some slight sideways movement to the ferrule. The shagreen of the grip has some moderate handling wear, small areas worn smooth and some small patches lost to expose the wood core: next to the ferrule on one side, and in the recesses near the pommel end on the other side. The scabbard fittings are bright with polishing marks, some small spots of dark patination. The scabbard leather is very good for an Indian piece of its age (heat, humidity and sometimes poor storage being the issues), it is strong and capable of supporting itself even with the blade withdrawn, with only light abrasion and a few shallow dents to its surface, all of its stitching is intact.
