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Title:	SABER -  U.S. SABER MODEL 1840 CAVALRY
Maker/Manufacturer:	BUNTING, SAMUEL C.
Date of Manufacture:	C 1860
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 6636
Measurements:	OL: 41 1/2" BL: 34 1/2"

Object Description:

U.S. SABER MODEL 1840 CAVALRY
Manufactured by Samuel C. Bunting, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa. - Regulation Model 1840 Heavy Cavalry or Dragoon saber. The so-called "wrist-breaker." Curved blade, 1 1/4" width, 3/8" thick. Brass hilt with pommel cap having high dome. M1860 type guard. Brass wire wound leather grip - 20 turns. Complete with 38" steel scabbard with 2 rings. These are extremely rare no more than four have been seen in recent years.

Markings:
Ricasso: S.C. BUNTING JR. /PHILA.
Drag: 4.

Notes: "THE FIRM - In 1852 through 1853 and again in 1858, there is a listing for Samuel C. Bunting as a hardware dealer in Philadelphia at 232 Dock (St.). Bunting Junior is estimated to have joined his father from 1859 through 1861. The listing for military goods shows up 1862 as a 'manufacturer of arms & military goods' at 13 North 6th (St.). Later on his military listing is dropped, and he is found as a Real Estate Broker. Like many of his contemporaries, he appears primarily to have been an entrepreneur and not specifically in the sword or military equipage business. With this evidence, it is likely that he purchased his officer's swords and sabers from a manufacturer or wholesaler and resold them, but his enlisted example may have been assembled by him. His stamp on the blade ricasso was most likely applied by him to an already manufactured saber. Both enlisted and officer's cavalry sabers have been seen with his stamp. Both types are rare.
As we have just discussed, notwithstanding Bunting's statement in his 1862 advertisement, it is not likely that he made swords or scabbards. It is, however, possible that he mounted and possibly assembled both swords and scabbards, because the necessary parts as blades, hilts, grips, scabbards and brass mountings would have been readily available at that time in his location. Furthermore, the work was probably and uncomplicated exercise for a former hardware merchant. Bunting may have both assembled and purchased complete sabers from sword makers, and as noted, probably stamped the blades with his name and location. Stamping the blades would have been more convenient than having swords etched with his name. Etching would have been more expensive than simply striking a die to a blade at the ricasso. Secondly, it is believed that etching an address would have required ordering the etched blades in advance or, at least, would have required them to be sent out if locally done. His sabers that have been observed are not of superior quality, which argues somewhat against him going through the expense of doing this. Stamping blades, a simple matter, was also convenient because the softer part of the blade was at the ricasso. This is where the soft tang was welded to the hard blade and an area more easily stamped by the retailer. A manufacturer would have stamped it before tempering. Thus, a hardware merchant who was assembling a limited number of swords would have found stamping a stock blade or the ricasso of an unmarked saber an inexpensive and convenient process.
...It was possibly made for a state purchase or for a home guard militia unit since no US purchase order or contract records exist for Bunting sabers during the Civil War. It is also possible saber was assembled in anticipation of a purchase order or contract that never materialized." - Thillman

LOAN HISTORY:
Army #4680 - Loaned to George Kennedy, C.B.S. Television, 485 Madison Ave., N.Y., N.Y. from 8 May 1958 to 16 May 1958.

References:
Crouch, Howard R. HISTORIC AMERICAN SWORDS. SCS Publications. Fairfax, Va. 1999.
Furr, Clegg Donald. AMERICAN SWORDS & MAKERS' MARKS. The Paragon Agency. Orange, Ca. 1999.
Thillmann, John H. CIVIL WAR CAVALRY & ARTILLERY SABERS. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 2001.