May 27, 2020 Founders & Patriots
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/27/2020
A most notable example of a short saber of the form known to have been made by Jeremiah Snow (although not bearing the Snow touchmark sometimes found on the counterguard), with superb blade and its original, tooled leather scabbard. The imported blade (probably Solingen) is 27 inches long by 1 3/8 inches wide at the ricasso, with a single, narrow fuller and a 6-inch, false edge. The blade was originally blued for half of its length, 30% or so of which remains. The hilt is classic Snow in its form and mounts, with a brass stirrup hilt with open counterguard with wide outer loop on the obverse and tear-drop ending to the quillon, and an urn-shaped pommel. The spiral-grooved, cherry wood grip bears 75-80% of its original, black japanning or paint, which was done to achieve a mock ebony-wood finish. The blackened leather scabbard is 2/3ds intact, the bottom third with drag now missing. The throat of the scabbard is made from sheet brass, with a diamond-shaped frog stud brazed on, while the leather of the scabbard is decorated with tooling lines and struck dots, the former done as a intersecting sequence down its length, being a diamond followed by two lozenges and repeat. The scabbard remains seated in the frog of the original shoulderbelt, also of black cowhide on the obverse face and russet leather on the recto. A superb example, one of the finest Snow-attributed short sabers that we are aware of at the present date. CONDITION: some chipping loss to the japanning of the grip as noted above and a mellow, brownish-yellow tone to the brass mounts of hilt and scabbard; there are a few, shallow nicks down the edge of the blade and one small spot of pitting on the lower obverse of blade--the unblued lower portion of blade a gunmetal grey in tone. JLK
Illustrated and discussed on pp. 190-191 of "For Liberty I Live."