E-228a Early Army Officer’s Dovehead Sword With
Crossed Laurel Leaves Wreath (Unattributed Pattern) – Not Maker Marked Blade
But Definitely by WMW With Distributor Marked Blade (Adolf Braun)
Although the blade is NOT maker marked, it is identical to a triple
engraved example in my collection, which is marked WMW. It is illustrated
in the Angolia Sword Book, page 69 and is listed as an unattributed pattern.
This is a very early production piece, having a solid brass hilt with an
outstanding gilded finish, grading 97%! In addition, the entire hilt is
hand enhanced. Stunning! As everyone is aware, the firm of Adolf
Braun was a distributor NOT a blade manufacturer. The pommel and backstrap
is constructed of one solid piece of quality brass material. The pommel
itself is the plain cap style, which shows minor wear and a couple of
storage/carrying marks, but ever so slight! The base of the cap contains a
thin rim that is adorned with hand applied dots. The upper and lower
portion of the backstrap is adorned with raised-out oak leaves with hand applied
dots featured in the background. The center portion of the backstrap
features a gorgeous design that resembles a cross having four oblong arms which
are even in length. The “P” guard contains raised-out oak leaves and acorns
with a pebbled background. The guard ends in a beautifully detailed floral
ball. The black celluloid grip has one large scrape to the upper, reverse
side. It is tightly wrapped with triple twisted silver wire with the
center strand being larger and twisted in the opposite direction. The
ferrule is perfectly matched to the rest of the hilt and is decorated with oak
leaves and acorns. The obverse langet is decorated with beautifully
detailed raised-out, crossed laurel leaves formed into a wreath with the
background accented by hand applied dots. What detail here! The
reverse langet exhibits a raised-out unadorned shield surrounded by hand
chiseled oak leaves and acorns. All in all, a FANTASTIC looking hilt!
The blade is straight throughout measuring 30.5” in overall length. It
is the nickel plated variety, retaining 100% of the plating, grading mint-.
The obverse ricasso is unmarked while the reverse is stamped with the
distributor’s name and location appearing in a two-line, block lettered
format, Adolf Braun / Berlin. Although the blade is NOT maker marked, it
is definitely a WMW product. The scabbard shell is dent-free. The
original black factory paint is VERY collectible, grading at least 95%.
The scabbard throat is retained via two domehead side screws that appear turned.
A RARE style sword that is a MUST for the SERIOUS sword collector! After
reviewing almost 30 years of dealer catalogs, this was the ONLY example found!
Strong excellent++.
$750.00
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Item E-228a
