When this sword left the retailer it was a true thing of beauty! This is a very detailed sword that is almost more of a work of art in design rather than a weapon. This is the French designed sword that would have been imported for use by a well-to-do Union officer. The cast brass hand guard has the droop wing style Union eagle in front of the spray of flags with the 7 stars above the eagle. On the back side of the guard it has the design That has the folding clam shell. The shell is the fine quality with the gold gilding. Just below the hand guard quillion it has the desirable French style proof marking. There were French makers that made these for high end retailers who would have supplied limited numbers of these goods to wealthy clients. On the backstrap it has the very distinctive image of Medusa with the serpents for hair. The handle of the sword has gorgeous light toned sharkskin. It has the double twist copper wire wrapping that is flanked by the single strands of copper wire. The blade of the sword is one of the fine quality blades that has the Klingenthal arsenal marking. Many firms would import the blades and assemble swords themselves like this including many of the American firms such as Horstmann and Tiffany. The sword still has the etching on each side. The back side has the design with the floral patterns and military motifs. The front of the blade has the matching quality working with the Union eagle. The sword is accompanied by the original steel and brass scabbard. The scabbard is a very fine quality as you can see. Each of the mounts and also the drag have been embellished with extra floral designs. This is a heck of a lot of sword.

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