US CA.1830 INFANTRY OFFICERS SWORD BY WIDMANN-SUPERB BLUE & GILD

This is a recent estate find, in completely original, untouched condition. An easily distinguished eagle pommel by the famous Philadelphia sword-maker and arms dealer Frederick Widman, with a blade marked with W [for Widman] , made for him by the no less famous Solingen cutler Kirsch Baum, as is indicated by the king's head on the other side of the blade.

Completely conforming to the 1821 US Army Regulation for Infantry Officers, this pardon-styled sword has a silver-washed hilt [silver survives in protected areas] and a straight blade [about 29.5" long] . The hilt details are crisply-cast< with the knucklebow is in the shape of a feathered serpent, which is a rather uncommon stylistic element, and the eagle pommel being a text-book example of the Widman Style VI, according to the Mowbray book. The scabbard throat and mid-band repeat the hilt ferrule motif of intertwined grape leaves - another trade-mark feature of the Widman style. Blade is finely blued and gilded, with almost all of the decoration still on the blade, I'd say no less than 90% of blue and gild is present. Scabbard leather has shrunk a bit and is about 1\8 of an inch short of the blade, otherwise fine. An excellent sword for an advanced collector of American edged weapons.