Short sword ID help

[Gillam&Miller]

Anyone ever seen a short sword similar to this ? It's a copy of a French pattern but no import marks and has very slight differences

 

[Seduzal]

It looks like French to me but I'm no expert! But just wait for a little while and someone will be along to help answer your questions.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

I agree that it looks a lot like a French Mle. 1831 talabot or infantry short sword from the 1830-1848 reign of Louis Philippe.
The yen for antiquity and classic Roman / neo-classical stuff led to all kinds of things like the Gladius-like (Gladius-esque?) U.S. artillery short sword and so on.
I have it, perhaps incorrectly, that these basically replaced the Napoleonic briquet among grenadiers and such during the royalist interregnum.

 

[UCVRelics]

It looks like French to me but I'm no expert!

It is indeed French, Model 1816 foot artillery sword. The brass scabbard throat and tip are missing.

 

[R. Porter]

My first reaction would be that it is the French model 1831 infantry sword because of the hilt design and general appearance of the blade. The French model 1816 artillery sword was the same thing as the U.S. model 1832 artillery sword only with a plain pommel or a rooster instead of an eagle. The blade of the of the U.S. 1832 sword was identical to the French 1816 with two fullers closest to the hilt and one going down the blade.

Looking at the blade of the sword in question, it doesn't have the flat triangular surfaces on either side near the hilt where the manufacturer is stamped and there isn't the slight constriction before it expands back out toward the business end. Since straight edges seem to be the style of these infantry short swords in France towards the middle of the century, I might guess that it is a later sword or it has been re-hilted. If it is French it is unusual to have no inspection or unit markings on it.

 

[R. Porter]

Well, it appears that this exact sword has been listed on eBay using these exact pictures, identified as an "Original Confederate Kenansville Short Sword" with a buy-it-now price of $3,800.00. I can't find a short sword that looks like this attributed to the Confederate States Armory in Kenansville.