E-205 Imperial Presentation Model 1898 Prussian
Officer's Sword With Damascus Blade With Blued and Gilded Panels by W K & C
I decided to leave this entire piece in its “as found” or
“right out of the woodwork” state! This elegant example is cast of the
finest brass retaining most of the original gilded finish. I would rate
the gilding at 90%! Although the hilt is the standard size, it features
extra cost embellishments. Stunning! The pommel flat top surface is
hand engraved with the owner’s initials, done in a very ornate swirl pattern,
while the base of the pommel is adorned with gorgeous oak leaves. The
short backstrap features an outstanding detailed menacing mask surrounded by a
few oak leaves. The “D” guard contains extra chisel work in the form
of oak leaves that extend to the edges of the Prussian Eagle. The
clamshell is the fixed style Prussian Eagle with raised WRII monogram, which is
hand embellished throughout to include almost the entire inside portion of the
guard. The grip is the engraved black horn style showing some highlight
wear and color loss. NO worries! The grip is tightly wrapped with
triple twisted silver wire with the upper five sections missing the lower
thinner strand. The center strand is large and twisted in the opposite
direction. Affixed to the center of the grip is Kaiser Wilhelm’s cipher
as Imperial King of Germany, a crown over the initial’s WR II (Wilhelm Rexus).
The ferrule remains in almost an untouched condition and is decorated with a
floral treatments housed between a two thin strands of rope. The brown
leather finger grabber is all but gone! The long 33” Damascus blade is
the straight style having dual fuller construction. The edges remain crisp
while the tip has a very slight bend. The blade itself features the
splinter pattern Damascus. The blade appears not to have been cleaned
since the original owner owned this magnificent piece, thereby rendering a
beautiful aged look to the Damascus. The obverse and reverse sides feature
an 18” engraved panel with gilded highlights and a blued background to some
areas. The obverse panel houses an inner panel measuring approximately
14.75” in overall length. There is a small cameo panel to the extreme
left edge, which contains a shield, sword, axe and floral vines. The
bluing to the outside edges of the larger panel, grades 80% while the gilded
highlights grades 90%. The center panel houses a two line presentation
with a floral vine adorning the beginning and ending of the first line
presentation “Our Esteemed ComradeMajor Dersen”. The lower line reads
“From the Officer Corps of the Fusilier Regiment Furst Ehri von
Hohenzollersches No40”. The obverse and reverse ricasso areas are gold
plated with the plating throughout, grading 90%. In addition, the obverse
ricasso contains the turn of the century maker’s trademark nicely stamped into
the blade. It consists of the side by side king and knight, with the
firm’s initials below (W K & C). The reverse side contains a 5”
center panel with a plain background with gilded highlights. The areas to
the right and left of the center panel have blued background areas that grade
95%. Beautiful! The themes to both areas are the standard military
themes that we see on many engraved Imperial blades comprised of cross flags,
cannons, drum, sword, bugle, floral and lances, with the highlights containing a
very attractive gilded surfaces, grading 85%. The area directly adjacent
to the ricasso is engraved “Eisenhauer” over “Damast – Stahl”.
Finally, the spine is decorated with a floral treatment extending immediately
after the ricasso and running for approximately 17”. The entire area is
gilded. The blade easily grades strong excellent to strong excellent+.
The original brown leather washer is intact, grading excellent. The
scabbard is the nickel plated style which remains straight throughout, with the
exception of a few minor carrying hits appearing on both sides. The
plating shows some wear with minor age splinters, lifting and flaking. The
plating grades 90%. Sounds much worse then it appears! Finally,
there is much wear to the bottom of the drag. This baby has seen wear!
This scabbard has the usual flared throat, and is affixed with two carrying
rings which dates this piece prior to 1906. For your information, the
second ring was ordered to be removed in 1906. The throat is retained to
the shell via two large size domehead screws that are turned. A QUALITY
piece! NO collection should be without at least one Damascus piece!
Excellent.
$3,995.00
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Item E-205
