US 1821 PATTERN EAGLE HEAD ARTILLERY SWORD

See The American Sword, Peterson, #101. Brass hilt with eagle form pommel and spread eagle shell guard. Diced ebony grips. 32” straight broad fullered double edged blade decorated with foliate sprigs and arms splays in the 18th century fashion dating this example to the earliest for its pattern. Brass scabbard elaborately hand engraved with remnants of gold in protected places. Peterson notes that this pattern was adopted for infantry and artillery with infantry mounted in white and artillery in black. These swords were used in numerous US-Indian conflicts over relocations as well as the Mexican American War and The Opium War in China and through the Civil War.