KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS SWORD C.1900-15

Brass hilt with knight’s head pommel and bird form quillons. Shell guard with U R flanking a lily. Stipple band wrapped leather covered grip (some wear to leather high spots). 30” d.e. blade with maker’s name PETTIBONE BROS CO to the ricasso. Both sides decorated in foliage, standing knight, Pythian devices and owner’s name. Quite crisp with smooth gray patina. The Scabbard with high relief tasks of Hercules motif and Pythian devices. The Knights of Pythias was chartered in 1864 and among the first after the Civil War. These organizations provided their members a number of benefits from social status to, in extreme case, physical backing against their adversaries.