Otto Curdts 1840 sword

[danielking1775]

Can't find much on this one 1840 Calvary marked E.H. Otto Curdts Soligen. Import? Doesn't look like a repo

 

[danielking1775]

 

[Old Soldier]

Soligen is in Germany so, yes, it is an import. It MAY be the whole sword but occasionally just the blades were imported and the 'bits and pieces' added by American swordmakers.

 

[danielking1775]

Soligen is in Germany so, yes, it is an import. It MAY be the whole sword but occasionally just the blades were imported and the 'bits and pieces' added by American swordmakers.

So is this a reproduction or actually civil war period?

 

[JackADriscoll]

So is this a reproduction or actually civil war period?

Better pictures

 

[R. Porter]

In Thillmann's Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers book, he indicates that he has only carefully inspected 1 example of a Curdts sword. This lack of examples matches my own experience of the rarity of this maker (except I haven't seen one in person, they are very uncommon.) Thillmann feels that Curdts is a sword maker, not a sword assembler. Bezdek in German Swords and Sword Makers states that Curdts exported cavalry sabers to northern dealers during the Civil War.

 

[danielking1775]

Thank you!

 

[JackADriscoll]

As an aside I can only see where this sword type has come for sale very few times over the years and the median price is only 225 which I found quite surprising

 

[R. Porter]

Looking through Bezdek more carefully, he lists three versions of a Curdts stamp on swords:

H. Otto Curdts 1851 - 1860
Otto Curdts 1860 - 1875 (this is the form listed as shipping to the U.S.)
E.H. Otto Curdts 1875 - 1925

The versions of German cavalry sword that Bezdek shows with a similar hilt have double fullers running down the sides of the blade. The form you have looks like a German import of a U.S. model 1840. Those were based on the French model. In the early 1870 France was defeated by Prussia so it seems unlikely that France would re-arm with U.S. style swords from. Their recent enemy. In 1872 the U.S. chose a new cavalry officer's sword that was much lighter than the previous 1860 model. Enlisted men continued using leftover model 1860 enlisted men's swords into the 20th century. Much lighter versions of the model 1840 did show up in the late 1800's in the U.S. but they were for military schools, militias or ceremonial. Your sword appears to be a standard model 1840 which would not have been procured by the U.S. after 1861 or 1862. That makes me wonder about the E.H. Curdts date range supplied by Bezdek.

 

[Old Soldier]

Solingen was the Sheffield of Germany/Prussia. They made swords, bayonets knives and cutlery for Europe and the World, They made the yataghan (saber) bayonets for Britain, swords for France, USA, Germany, Italy, Spain - everywhere.