Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	SABER -  U.S. SABER MODEL 1840 CAVALRY
Maker/Manufacturer:	OTTO, L.H.
Date of Manufacture:	C 1861
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 6691
Measurements:	OL:105.4CM 41 1/2 BL: 34 1/2"

Object Description:

U.S. SABER MODEL 1840 CAVALRY
Manufactured by L.H. Otto, Solingen, Germany - Regulation Model 1840 Heavy Cavalry or Dragoon saber. The so-called "wrist-breaker." Curved single edge blade. Brass wire round, leather grips. Complete with 37 3/4" steel scabbard with 2 rings. Wire loose on grips. Leather flaking. Two small dents in scabbard.

Markings:
Ricasso: L.H. OTTO/CURDTS. Reverse: SOLINGEN.

Notes: "FIRM: L.H. Otto Curdts is a little-known Solingen maker. Only one saber with the Curdts name stamped on the blade (a model 1840 cavalry) has been carefully examined. Based upon this evaluation, it is strongly believed to be an American Civil War period import - there are no foreign (European, South American, Mexican, etc.) inspections, rack marks or other marks of ownership. Because of the scabbard features and hilt shape, which is different from other Solingen makers, it is believed that Curdts is a maker and not an assembler or retailer.
1840 CAVALRY SABER - As with so many model 1840 sabers of the Solingen make, this piece is very similar to others from the Solingen area yet retains some unique characteristics on the hilt and scabbard. The hilt has a large guard with the outside branch bent very high, yet the knucklebow is shallow and in profile has a squared-off design, as opposed to a full deep 'belly' on the bottom of the guard. The scabbard is somewhat unusual in the use of a pin on the rear of the bands and the small diameter of the ring metal stock. The exaggerated 'P'-shaped drag in very similar to the early S&K and Chatellerault saber drags, yet the steel of the drag is a bit thinner than the earlier and heavier drags on the Model 1840s. - Thillmann

References:
Thillmann, John H. CIVIL WAR CAVALRY & ARTILLERY SABERS: A STUDY OF UNITED STATES CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY SABERS, 1833-1865. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 2001.