A Distinctive Sword from the First World War
This well preserved artillery sword from WWI has a host of interesting details worth exploring.
Historical Design
Iconic and highly recognizable, the Prussian Lionhead Saber has existed in many forms with a plethora of customizations and minor variations ranging from effective martial tools to the highly ceremonial.
On display here is a WWI era Imperial German saber, clearly never intended for the battlefield, but an incredible piece to view.
From Many Sources
Produced by many different manufactures, the marking of blades would go in and out of fashion during different times.
Each manufacturer produced these swords from their own custom castings, which each bore a unique style. Having solicited other opinions, it’s suggested that this particular blade may have been from the workshop of Carl Eickhorn in Solingen.
Notice the oak leaf and acorn patterns on the knuckle bow and the embellishments on the crossguard.
Dressing Up
Sporting an extremely narrow and thin blade, this unsharpened dress sword would have been at a distinct disadvantage in combat and was likely better suited as a dress sword.
While some late war production hilts would be made from steel, this sword bears the more traditional brass with a fire-gilt gold finish.
This particular examble has some noteworthy engraving, which appears to be acid-etched.
Old and New
Fire gilding has fallen out of favor for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the risk of mercury exposure to the workers.
By contrast, here we see an early use for one of the first plastics - an early polymer which was layered over a wooden grip core before the wire wrapping forms the softened sheet against the grip.
Visual Effects
One of the more distinctive elements of these swords are the ruby red eyes, commonly made from chips of colored glass, however in exceptional cases they could be made from precious stones.
Notice the slight green at the lion’s mouth from the tarnishing brass underneath the gilding at this imperfect joint.
Reading the Blade
When identifying a maker’s mark, it’s often possible to date a particular piece from the style of the mark.
For example, throughout the early 19th century the iconic stamped squirrels of Carl Eickhorn’s swords changed form, eventually becoming an etched, single squirrel with greater detail.
While this may or may not be an Eickhorn blade, there are some other details which can help us understand the history of this piece.
Distinguished Service
Given the popularity of this style across services, sword makers would add motifs and embellishments for the respective services.
The langet here bears a pair of crossed cannons, indicating it was intended for an artillery officer.
Notice the distinctive curve on the knuckle bow as well as the second lion head at the end of the quillion, and the repeated oak leaf theme.
An Impressive Mustache
One of the most critical features which will help us narrow the range of production of this blade is the etching of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s profile on the blade.
Additionally, we find the script “Deutschland überalles in der welt,” translating roughly to “Germany over-all in the world.”
This inscription and profile would seem to suggest it was created no later than the Kaiser’s abdication in late 1918.
More Hints
On the basis of the crests pictured in the etchings, we know that the sword could not have been produced earlier than the unification of Germany. Here we see crests for Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, and others.
This does not narrow down the dates very far however, so we must look elsewhere for other clues.
Perhaps un-intuitively, the scabbard is what will give us one of the greatest clues to the timeline.
Bureaucracy Saves the Day
Beginning in 1906 Imperial German regulations changed and scabbards were to be carried by a single ring. If this were an earlier production model, we would expect to see a second ring, lower on the scabbard. Notice the wide, unsharpened edge.
Were this blade marked with a maker, we would typically find it under the langets at the base of the blade.
While this area is not visible in this image, the two sides of the ricasso are entirely blank.
A note on terminology - the ricasso is the base of the blade past the crossguard which is not sharpened. The langets are the ‘ears’ which hang over the scabbard and provide tension to prevent unsheathing.
Get to the Point
While the different layers of enamel suggest that the scabbard was refinished at some point, the underlying coat appears to be in the same black color.
As Germany drew closer to war and during wartime, scabbards were mandated to be painted black.
While this scabbard has certainly been refinished, the original coating was clearly a war time black. In this image we can clearly see see the new, glossier layer on top, with the more worn, matte finish closer to the metal.
So this sword is clean, unsharpened, and unnamed.
Was it carried by someone who had no need to sharpen their sidearm nor to personalize it? Did it sit in a store room until the war began to turn south, making the victorious engravings appear tone deaf, relegating this sword to only ever being issued to museums and collections?
We simply don’t know, and all we can say is that it’s an interesting sword, and that it’s quite the curiosity.
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