Here is a rare example of an early 18th century British silver hilted small sword from the Queen Anne Period and bearing the Queen’s Royal Initials on the blade! (a great rarity)
This very fine example is one of the most detailed and beautifully designed examples that you will ever see. A true museum piece!
This sword would have belonged to a staunch supporter of the Crown, either a high ranking military officer, a wealthy aristocrat or possibly a relation of the Royal Family.
It is in exceptional original condition with only a few inconsequential dings and light wear as might be expected from a 300 year old sword. See photos. It has never been dismantled or re-peened and retains its original twisted silver and copper grip wraps along with its original Turk’s Head ferrules. It has 2 sets of silversmith’s touch marks: one on the counter-guards and one on the knuckle-bow (some wear) that indicate it was made 1709 – 1710 (letter date O), along with the Britannia figure, a lion’s head erased and the silversmith’s mark “WI” inside a heart which may be the mark of Charles Williams registered in 1697. (at that time it was common for silversmiths to use the first 2 initials of their sir-name)
Its blade is in nearly new condition and still retains much of its original sheen. It is deeply stamped, in “olde” English style, “AR” for Anna Regina ("Anne the Queen" in Latin). The sword must have spent at least a few hundred years in its scabbard (now lost) to have survived in such fine condition.
The stout, very strong blade retains its original length and never has been altered or shortened. It is about 26.5” long.
The hilt is magnificent.
Starting from the top down:
Round pommel, with octagonal faceting, with a central belt. It sits on a double stepped neck and is topped off by a 3 tier mantle with tang button; all integrally designed.
The knuckle bow nicely designed with an elongated inset diamond design, both sides and topped off by a graceful flirt.
The grip beautifully wound with double strands of twisted silver wire and copper wire creating a chevron effect. All wire completely intact. Both original silver braided Turk’s head ferrules completely intact.
The quillon block is exceptional. It gently flares from round to hexagonal and sits above a multi beaded base.
The base plate is multi faceted in a flaring octagram design! A similar design is found on the underside of the counterguards.
The elegantly detailed quillon even has a "nightcap" and terminates with a nipple!
The graceful pas d'ane both branch out into 2 sections, flaring out above and below the kidney shaped counter-guards.
The counter-guards both employ the same inset diamond shapes, atop and below, as does the knuckle-bow.
A small graceful loop design joins the counter-guards on each end.
The guard even retains its original leather washer! (sheath pad)
The stout, “hollow ground” tri-foil blade measures about 1” at ricasso and is deeply stamped with Queen Anne’s Royal Initials. (very rare)
Overall this sword is an exceptional example of the Queen Anne Period silversmith’s art!
Through the years we have seen a few other examples of this silversmith’s small swords and they are nowhere near the exceptional design and quality of our sword. Although they were beautiful, they were of the common simpler design usually employed on swords of this period. Our sword has to be the finest example of a silver-hilted sword that this silversmith produced! Obviously made for someone very special.
A similar sword, but not as nice, is illustrated in Aylward's book The Small sword in England #35. Another similar, but again not as nice, is pictured in The Rapier and Small-Sword by Norman, plate 114 and is in the Victoria and Albert Museum and still another similar example (again not as nice as ours) is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
If you want to own the epitome of a Queen Anne silver hilted sword this is it!

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We are “Fine Art Ltd” on antiques.com
Our direct email is: fineartlimited@yahoo.com
We are also selling on eBay as "fineart77"

Price is firm.
Thanks for looking!

Antique Arms and Armor