December 10-13, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024
A well-made sword belt of buff leather, the straps 2 1/2 inches wide, consisting of a short branch of 18 5/8 inches attached to the front of the frog, butt-joined by round-closed stitching to the 29 1/4 inch long branch attached to rear of frog. The frog itself is approximately 7 inches deep by 6 inches wide and has a hole cut 2 inches down from the front top, to retain the button of the scabbard throat. Covering the join of the long and short branches of the belt is a handsome oval plate of brass, 4 3/8 inches long by 2 11/16 inches wide. Four pierced attachment lugs are set around the perimeter of the plate on verso, which align with 4 holes cut into the belting. On the face of the plate is engraved a light dragoon trooper on a rearing horse with upraised saber in his right arm. It is one of the most skillfully engraved 18th century American belt plates extant. The figure was copied from a 1760s copperplate engraving of a light dragoon that had been published in London. In the original British print, there is a GR placed on the helmet's frontplate. However, on this plate the American engraver has substituted a star. During the Revolutionary War, the helmets made for Pulaski's Legion all had a star affixed to them as early as 1778. It is not being stated that this belt and plate has provenance to a Legionnaire, but it etablished that star devices were already being used by American cavalry as early as 1778. Serendipitously, at the same time that I began to catalog my study collection for this sale, Fred Gaede (not even knowing I owned the North Shore saber, plate and belt) sent me a photocopy of this plate, which he had found in a letter sent by Harold Peterson in Jim Hutchins at the Smithsonian back in the 1970s--noting that this plate was on an 18th century sword belt with saber in the collection of Jack Weil of Marblehead!! PROVENANCE: From the lifetime collection of the late Jack Weil of Marblehead, purchased as lot 277 at the John McInnis Auction of Weil's lifetime collection of early North Shore Americana, held in Amesbury, MA on 12 June 2021. The saber in the previous lot is clearly that which was housed in the frog of this belt and acquired at the same sale as lot 276. CONDITION: Very good overall; the buff leather belt is still supple and stitches strong with some light wear and soiling; the belt plate in exceptionally fine condition but missing its original leather ties or wires that originally would have secured its lugs to the underside of the shoulder belt.