British Bandsman's Sword, Early 19th Century

Straight blade with diamond profile, single short central fuller and spear point, single-piece cast brass hilt with straight crossguard with circular quillon terminals, spiral ribbed grip, lion’s head pommel with eyelet and movable ring. No scabbard. Blade just over 22½ inches (57.4cm) in length, the sword just under 28½ inches (72.2cm) overall.

The hilt is stamped on the grip side on one quillon with ‘2B2R’ and the other with ‘B.10’.  This might be a unit mark and a few bandsman’s swords do have identifiable regimental markings, but I cannot identify this one. Many bandsmen’s sword markings are cryptic and the letters may, for instance, refer to subunits within a regiment or some idiosyncratic system.

There was no standard pattern for the ornamental swords carried by military bands in the eighteenth and early 19^th centuries. Each regiment was responsible for equipping its band as it saw fit, the expense generally paid for by its officers. Nonetheless bands were often well equipped as regiments took great pride in their music and sought to outdo each other in their pageantry. Composed of a mixture of enlisted men and paid civilian musicians, military bands often performed for the public becoming a cultural fixture and a useful means of outreach between military and civilians, a tradition which continues to this day.

Despite their non-standard procurement there was a common style to the British band sword (with considerable variation): a short, usually curved, mameluke-style sword with brass fittings and a pommel in the form of an animal head, most often a lion.

This one is somewhat unusual given its straight blade, and as mentioned I have only seen one other example. The Royal Armouries collection contains a great number of British bandsman’s swords which the Armouries curators have grouped into types based on the form of their hilts – but this type is not included among them, although it is closest to the ‘Type N’ which also has a straight diamond profile blade and straight crossbar hilt (see Royal Armouries item IX.431 – pictured in their online collection and also in Swords of the British Army, 1^st Edition by Robson 1975, p170). The RA collection is by no means exhaustive however and it is always interesting to find new variants.

Most bandsmen’s swords were curved to make them easier to carry on the march, so straight blades are rarer, although this one is quite short. The Mark I Drummer’s sword introduced in 1856 also had a short straight diamond-shaped blade (19 inches), and this type might have been a precursor. Dating this piece is difficult, but the use of such swords would have declined after 1856 and the Royal Armouries generally date their examples to between 1800 and 1860.

I have seen another example of this model which was stamped to Wilkinson and unit marked in the same format, so this example too may be by Wilkinson.

The blade has spots of light and moderate scratching, light patination, and patches of light pitting, most notably near the tip. No damage to its edge, which is unsharpened. The tip is rounded – it may always have been so but if it was sharp it probably extended by another ~2mm. The hilt, grip and pommel have an even midtone patina.