French infantry officers 'Sabre à Garde Tournante'
This is my second 'Sabre à Garde Tournante' which translates to sabre with a rotating guard, referring to the unique side bar that folds in front of the knuckle-bow when not in use.
This style of guard became popular in France around 1784 and remained fashionable until about 1800. For a short period the English also followed this trend and they can occassionally be found on 1788 Pattern light cavalry officer swords or 1786 regulation infantry officers swords. But the style faded out with the introduction of the 1796 Patterns. Interestingly Austria actually adopted the rotating guard into their regulation patterns and there it remained in use until the middle of the 19th Century.
This example has a single side guard that folds out to the outside of the grip that has been scalloped along the edge with a decorative feature that is frequently seen on these swords.
The short blade length and the single frog stud on the scabbard chape mark this as having belonged to an infantry officer of a lower rank who still marched with his men.
Stats: Overall Length - 765 mm Blade Length - 740 mm Curve - 14 mm Point of Balance - 110 mm Grip Length - 125 mm Inside Grip Length - 105 mm Weight - 610 grams