French M1866 Chassepot Bayonet by St Etienne, 1871
Single-fullered ‘yataghan’ downward-curving blade, cross hilt with muzzle ring and hooked lower quillon with ball finial. Ribbed cast brass grip and beaked pommel, attached to the tang with two steel rivets, one of which secures the external leaf spring which actuates the locking catch. Steel scabbard with frog loop. Blade length: 57.5cm (~22 5/8 inches), overall length 70cm (~27.5 inches), muzzle ring diameter 17.5mm.
The spine of the blade is engraved in cursive script ‘St Etienne Mai 1871t, meaning it was made at the state arms factory at St Etienne in May 1871. The blade is stamped at the shoulder on one side with two French ‘poincon’ inspection stamps. The upper face of the hilt and the quillon are stamped with further poincons, along with the number ‘4’ and ‘248’. The hilt is stamped on one side with the serial number ‘J 70126’. The scabbard is stamped near the throat with the serial number ‘FG . 81366’, indicating a non-matching pair with the blade.
1871 was the first year of the new Third Republic, after the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 brought about his deposition as Emperor and the end of the Second French Empire, making this one of the first ‘republican’ marked bayonets. Its maker is marked simply as ‘St Etienne’, the plant shedding its old title of the ‘Manufacture Imperiale de St Etienne’.
The blade is bright with some light spots of patination in the fullers and near the tip, some scratches to the edge bevel. A few small nicks to the edge, which is unsharpened. The hilt, steel parts in the grip and the scabbard have some light patination, the grip rivets and locking button are bright. The brass grip is lightly patinated with only a couple of tiny dents. The scabbard retains its original blueing with some spots of patination and a few small dents near the chape that do not interfere with sheathing and drawing.
