A Rare Scottish Highland Military Officers’ Basket Hilted Sword dating to circa 1750-1760

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Price: £5,300

Ref: 42062782

Item Description

A fine Scottish Basket Hilted Sword made for an officer in a Highland Infantry Regiment in the middle of the 18th century. The sword is very much an “attic find” in untouched original and uncleaned condition.  The sword is of higher quality than those produced for enlisted men. It was probably made in Glasgow or Stirling which were the two main centres producing swords in Scotland at this time.  This is a rare sword in that one of the side guard plates is formed as a thistle inside a garland with a closed crown above.

We are aware of only one other example of this sword type which is in the J D Forman Collection and is illustrated in Cyril Mazansky, “British Basket-Hilted Swords”, 2005, The Boydell Press, page 136, fig G1, The sword dates to the early period of the Highland Regiments and may have been used in North America in the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763) and in the American Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783) in which Highland regiments were engaged .

The sword hilt is a robust example formed from well forged and nicely rounded structural bars. The two frontal guard plates are finely pierced with flanged hearts at the sides and circles in the corners and in the middle, within a border created by incised fluted lines just inside the edges of the plates. The knuckle bow and one side guard are also incised with vertical flutes and pierced with flanged hearts and circles.

The pommel is cone shaped with an integral button on top. It is engraved with chevrons of fluted lines similar to those cut into the guard panels. The tops of the three arms of the guard are forged onto a ring into which the neck of the pommel sits. The grip is made of spirally grooved wood  mounted with a covering of shagreen and bound with silver riband and mounted with iron bands top and bottom. The hilt retains its original full leather liner with the remains of red cloth stitched to the front and a blue silken hem.

The double edged tapering blade is 31.5 inches (80 cm) long. It has a pronounced ricasso  from the end of which two fullers run along the middle of the blade and terminate 6 inches (15 cm) from the tip. The bladesmith’s mark of ANDRIA FARARA is cut into the fullers near the hilt indicating that the blade is an import into the UK from one of the European blade making centres such as Solingen.  The overall length of the sword is 37.75 inches (96 cm).

Overall the iron and steel parts are in good condition with mottled patination  as can be seen in the photographs below.