British Circa 1815 Pioneer’s Sword of the Warwickshire Regiment of Foot
This sword is somewhat mysterious – its three-fullered, leaf-shaped blade appears to be an homage to the neoclassical French Model 1771 ‘Eagle Head’ Artillery sidearm, while its ornate lion-headed brass pommel seems to draw inspiration from British bandsmen’s swords.
It is very close in form, however, to a sword at the Tower of London which is illustrated on page 10 of British Military Bayonets by R J Wilkinson-Latham, which he identifies as a Pioneer’s sword: one of 5,000 ordered by the Board of Ordnance in 1815 to be issued together with the Baker Rifle and its new socket bayonet. The example illustrated there bears an identical motif of fasces and horns, as well as the number ‘52’, which Wilkinson-Latham connects to the 52nd Regiment, i.e. the Oxfordshire Light Infantry.
This might not be one of those 5,000 swords because the order placed by the Board specifically required the blade to be saw-backed – but as the Baker Pioneer sword was selected from a design which was already in use informally, and the hilt and its decoration are an uncannily close match, I am reasonably confident that this sword is British, made for pioneers, and is marked to the 6th Regiment of Foot, i.e. the Warwickshire Regiment.
The blade has a dark finish which may have been chemically applied, the brass hilt has an aged patina. The tip of the blade has rolled.
