M1850 sword, uncommon maker

[Thatguy199]

Hello everyone from the finger lakes of NY! Like I said in the meet and greet forum I was going to post my new (first) civil war sword here. It's marked Tomes Son, & Melvain NY. And from what I've been able to find on Google means it was made during the civil war since before the war they didn't include Son and they stopped right after the war. I'm not sure if you'd call it a foot officer, a staff and field, or a calvary version and sadly it didn't come with a scabbard. I'd love to hear what you guys think about it, any knowledge you can drop on me is greatly appreciated. And sorry about the lighting, I can try tomorrow in daylight if you want to see something better.

 

[Richard E. Schenk]

You have it right, this is a CW-era M1850 foot officer's sword. It was carried by infantry and other unmounted Army company-grade officers, i.e. lieutenants and captains. It was also carried by Marine officers. Strictly speaking Tomes Son & Melvain were not sword makers, but rather sword assemblers and retailers. They bought parts from various German and domestic makers such as Clauberg or Collins, assembled them into completed swords, and marketed them. It is thought that they did at least some of their own blade etching. One unusual feature of your sword is the leather-covered grip. Most M1850s had sharkskin-covered grips.

 

[UCVRelics]

Very Nice. Great etching. Below is some info on this maker. They had contracts for cavalry swords but due to the fact officers had to buy their own swords this one would have been a private purchase. The various names changes make these easy to pin down on date of manufacture.

 

[captaindrew]

Nice piece, thanks for sharing

 

[Thatguy199]

The grip does seem to be in pretty good shape do you think it could have been replaced? It's definitely still old, here's a better picture

 

[WJC]

Beautiful sword! thanks for sharing the photos!