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Mameluke USMC style sword Eickhorn Solingen


Silvio
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Hi all,

 

Here is a odd and never encountered before sword in the USMC pattern.

Blade is not a USMC profile and only marked with the Eickhorn Solingen logo but nothing else No etching,no fullers.The grip is made with the Trolon material.USMC cross-guards are normaly plain but this one has a beautiful floral design.The scabbard and sword are in very good condition

There is no history on it but maybe one of you saw one before.

Could be a special order for a individual officer and maybe not US military related.I believe the Eickorn logo is used till 1935 but the whole assembly could be later done off course.

 

Thank you,

 

post-158216-0-44567100-1548770714_thumb.jpg

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Silvio,

 

This is an interesting sword. You are quite right about the pre-war Eickhorn maker marking time frame helping date your sword.

 

Other folks, besides US Marines, wore this style of Mameluke sword and Eickhorn exported to countries throughout the world. I suspect what you have is not a USMC sword but one destined for another country made by Eickhorn. I don't have an Eickhorn US export catalog to check if the US Marine Corps sword was available without a blade etch so I can't answer your question with authority.

 

Let's see what others might say.

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Nice sword! I at one time actually owned a prewar Eickhorn USMC sword, it came out of the woodwork with several other swords and all were to believed to be Eickhorn showroom swords, I owned the marine and a 1902 patern, they both now reside (unless since sold) in a collection in the Cleveland area, Ill go thru my old pics and see if I can find pictures of them, this was like 10 years ago.

 

Fritz

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Thank you Sarge and Frits,

 

i,m curious what the outcome will be.

Showroom is a possible candidate but why whould you take the effort to give the cross guard an engraving design.this could also be done by a sample book.Just my thought..

 

Regards

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Is there good reference about the acid etching pattern design used around WW2.

I saw here on the forum a very nice etching design with all the USMC battle honours in scrolls if i,m correctly etched on the blade does anybody know that thread

And is the black leather sword knot the only pattern used on the USMC sword

 

Thank you

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The etch design on the current Marine mameluke was established in 1915 and has not changed since then. the only variation is the inclusion of the owner's name either etched or engraved in the panel provided for that purpose on the reverse side of the blade near the hilt. I have seen a VN-era M1859 NCO sword which had a post-production inscription etched on the blade below the official etching. I have not seen this done on a Mameluke, but I suppose it would be possible.

 

The current black sword knot replaced an earlier dark brown mahogany knot of the same design. I'm not sure when the change was made, but believe it was relatively recently. Prior to WWII there was also a full-dress knot with a scarlet and gold cord with a scarlet and gold bullion tassel. Again, I'm not sure when it was discontinued, but it was still mentioned in the Uniform Reg of 1937..

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Hello.

 

In the catalog of Eikhorn until 1933 this model is given as USMC NCO Sword Model 1842. Also available with plastic grips.

 

The model with the etched blade is performed as USMC Officer Saber M1843

post-191677-0-17178100-1549493330_thumb.jpg

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Windraider,

 

Many thanks for posting the Eickhorn export catalog pages. It is through these period catalogs that we are able to understand how these swords were marketed by their makers. The sword identified as the Eickhorn Nr.835 also has the small etched panel on a blade with one wide and two narrow fullers. This blade shape (configuration) is the same as Nr.1539. The sword shown above has no fullers and no etching, so not quite the Nr.835 shown in the Eickhorn catalog.

 

This Eickhorn Nr.835 sword that is identified as a NCO sword is being discussed on this thread as a variant Officer sword. Please take a look.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/310039-early-m1875-mameluke/

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Very interesting. Could you also post the text from the Eickhorn catalog? I don't know where they came up with "M1842" - there never was a Marine M1842 sword. The original Marine mameluke was the M1826, and it remained standard with no modifications until the Uniform Regulation of 1859 which replaced it with the Army M1850 foot officer's sword.

 

The two mamelukes pictured are the two variants of the M1875 mameluke. The illustration showing #835 is of the first type which was regulation from 1875 until 1915. It has a simple blade etching of "U.S. Marines" within a banner.

 

post-160923-0-43926400-1549502279_thumb.jpgpost-160923-0-63540900-1549504405_thumb.jpgpost-160923-0-45691500-1549502372_thumb.jpg

 

The illustration showing 1839 is of the current type with a much more elaborate etching on the blade which was adopted in 1815 - see photo in next post (to large to incluce in this post).

 

.I find it odd that Eickhorn was still selling swords with the obsolete etching pattern as late as 1933, but I suppose it is possible. American arms dealers were listing CW models in their catalogs decades after they were replaced.

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