Subject: aristocratic gentleman
Culture: English
Setting: Georgian period, England / British empire mid-late 18thc
Object: smallsword
Angel Sword *
* Higgins Armory Museum > Story of the Sword
"Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) and perhaps Matthew Boulton (1728- [sic] Smallsword, about 1790 England (perhaps Birmingham and Burslem)
Steel, faceted, burnished, blued and gilded; iron; jasperware Weight: 1 lb. 1 oz. ...
This superb sword is both costume accessory and witness to industrial history. Boulton and Wedgwood were two of the leading figures in the Industrial Revolution; Boulton also worked with James Watt in developing the steam engine. Boulton's civilian dress swords were among the first to be factory-made. Earlier smallswords with false gems inspired the use of cut-steel faceted beads resembling diamonds. The English became masters of the technique, also used on jewelry, buttons and buckles. By the 1780s, Wedgwood and Boulton were fitting such steel articles with jasperware plaques with neoclassical designs inspired by those discovered in Roman and Etruscan ruins." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Smallsword English, London, dated 1730/1
Not all smallswords were highly decorated. This silver hilted sword's beauty lies in its proportions and simplicity.
Its blade is perfectly functional, and was probably one of the many imported from Germany." ...
* Royal Ontario Museum > Arms and Armor
"1790 Angleterre. Lame en acier à section triangulaire.
Garde et ornements en acier ciselé à facettes de style néo-classique." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Smallsword English, London, dated 1774/5
The silver hilt of this sword is decorated in the fashionable rococo style which swept Europe in the mid 18th century.
The etched decoration on its German blade includes a dog pursuing a rabbit." ...
* Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery
"Smallsword and scabbard
English, London, dated 1764 By Mary Carman [NOTE: scabbard not on display]
Mary Carman took over her husband's business on his death, describing herself as 'silver hilt maker'.
This sword was retailed by Nixon, a sword-cutler in the Strand." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Smallsword and scabbard English, London, about 1798-1800 by R. Johnston
The late 18th century fashion for cut-steel stud and beaded decoration extended from buttons and jewellery to smallsword hilts.
The hard steel polished up brightly, retaining its jewel finish well." ...
* Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery
"Smallsword and scabbard English, London, dated 1766/7 By Joseph Clare II
This sword is believed to have belonged to Commander John Shortland, RN (1739-1803);
contemporary portraits of Naval Officers show similar swords worn with full dress uniform." ...
*Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery
"Smallsword English, Woodstock, about 1775
Cut-steel hilts became fashionable in the later eighteenth century, the Birmingham firm of Boulton and Watts leading the field.
Woodstock hilts were distinguished by their studs crewing rather than riveting in place." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Miniature smallsword This sword is only 16.5 inches long. However, on formal occasions in the 18th century boys as young as three or four were dressed like their fathers which meant wearing a sword. Early 18th century." ...
* Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery
"Smallsword and scabbard English, London, dated 1758-9 This small-sword is typical of fashionable London-made silver hilts of the period.
The blade, a robust German import, is decorated with figures of the apostles -- named to avoid confusion." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Smallsword Traditionally a youth's sword. A sober not is struck by the inscription on the blade
QUIS SEPARET NOS NIL NISI MORS (nothing shall separate us except death). Hilt possibly English, blade German, about 1700" ....
* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery
"Presentation smallsword and scabbard English, London, dated 1801-2
"Major George Wilson was returning to the West Indies with his Regiment in 1796. They were diverted to Demerara, a Dutch colony wishing to surrender to the British Army. Wilson later served in the Peninsular war from 1809 until his death in 1813.
"Shell inscribed: FROM THE COLONY OF ESSEQUEBO AND DEMARARY TO GEORGE WILSON ESQ.
MAJOR 39TH REGIMENT IN TESTIMONY OF THE SENSE ENTERTAINED OF HIS MERIT SEPTEMBER 1800." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > Self-Defence Gallery *
"Sword The proportions of this sword suggest that it was a child's.
This style of hilt with a simple side-ring developed at the same time as the smallsword and was popular throughout Europe. European, late 17th century" ....
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Smallsword Hilt with Storage Case Steel, wood, leather, silk English (Biirmingham or London), about 1785-1800
Beaded steel hilts were an English specialty, beginning about 1775.
This example is contained in its original fitted storage box as it would have been shown at the shop of the goldsmith or jeweler who sold it." ...
Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor *
"Smallsword Hilt Steel, set with Wedgwood jasperware plaques English (possibly Birmingham), about 1790
"This hilt combines two of the most popular elements of English jewelry during the last quarter of the eighteenth century: highly polished cut-steel beads and blue-and-white cameos of Wedgwood jasperware. The industrialist Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) of Birmingham, who specialized in cut-steel articles, is known to have collaborated with Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) in combining jasperware cameos and steel settings to make buttons, watch fobs, and chatelaines. It is likely that this hilt originated in Boulton's factory." ...
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Smallsword Hilt and Scabbard Mounts Silver-gilt, enamel, paste brilliants James Morisset (goldsmith, active 1768-1800)
English (London), hallmarked for 1797-98 The patriotic and nautical subjects of the decoration suggest that this was made for presentation to a naval hero, as were the similar hilts by Morriset exhibited in the vitrine to the right.
"The components of the hilt and scabbard are shown as they would have left the goldsmith's shop prior to being mounted by the cutler or retailer with a blade and a vellum-covered scabbard." ...
Royal Armouries Museum > War Gallery *
"Small sword and scabbard
Possibly British, c. 1786" ...
Royal Armouries Museum > War Gallery *
"Presentation small sword
Hilt, English (London);
blade European, about 1796." ...
