May 27, 2020 Founders & Patriots
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/27/2020
Jeremiah Snow, Sr. (fl. 1760-1800) was a Massachusetts silversmith who is known to have produced both horseman's sabers and short sabers in the Revolutionary era. This saber has been attributed to Snow, by virtue of the distinctive form of its brass, stirrup-hilt with open, side-loop to the right side of the counterguard, as well as the use of an imported Spanish blade (34 1/8 in. L x 1 5/16 in. W at ricasso). However, unlike most of his known sabers, which have urn-shaped pommels of c. 1780, this saber's pommel is olive- or ovoid-shaped, with faceted capstan, a commonly-used form during the 1760s-1770s, which presents the likelihood it is the earliest form of saber that can be attributed to Snow's workshop. Moreover, the grip is unchanneled and appears to be of straight-grain maple with brass ferrules at each end (each with three lines of edge engraving around them), rather than channeled cherry wood grips as found on most Snow-attributed sabers with urn pommels. The saber is accompanied with a silver tablespoon by Snow, bearing his "I.SNOW touchmark in a rectangular cartouche on the recto of the handle and the owner's initials "BM" in a cursive cipher on the obverse. CONDITION; the blade a dull gunmetal grey with a few scattered dings and nicks and one or two small spots of light pitting. The capstan of the pommel is slightly misshapen from reseating the tang, but this appears to have been done during the period. JLK
Illustrated and discussed on pp. 190-191 of "For Liberty I Live."