TsarsArsenal.com © 2009Extremely rare and important dated c. 1827 Life-Guards Pavlovsky regiment officer's presentation infantry smallsword with award badges of orders of the St. George and St. Anne for bravery and names of the battles engraved on the blade.
Description:
Straight 34 inch single edged blade with 28 inch panel etched and engraved with 23 battle honors for the years 1812, 1813 and 1814 including Moscow, Berezina, Dresden, Leipzig, Leon and Paris. Lower section with panoplies of arms on a beaded fied and framed by palmettes. Spine marked for the Zlatoust Arms Factory and dated March 14, 1827. Gilt brass hilt of standard pattern for this model, the interior sides of the bilobate guard inscribed twice in Cyrillic For Bravery, one side affixed with brass and red enamel badge of St. Anne, the other with the white and colored enamel badge of St. George. Gilt wire-wrapped grip. With original orange and black silk sword knot with silver bullion knot. Brown leather-covered scabbard, the gilt brass throat and drag molded with laurel branches.
Condition: Blade with a few small patches of staining but not impacting the decoration. Hilt retains much gilt finish. Scabbard re-leathered, the mounts retaining most of their gilt finish.
See Illustration
Provenance: Major American auction, June of 2010.
