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Featured Essay: Grip variations in US Civil War Foot Officers Swords

By Michael C. MacDonald

In April of 1850 the US War Department adopted a new pattern of sword for company grade officers (rank up to Captain) of the Infantry, Artillary and Rifles.

The US 1850 Foot Officers swords were produced before, during and after the Civil War. During this time many different manufacturers produced these swords. Each of these manufacturers produced slightly different style of hilt geometry, hilt decoration, grip material, scabbard material, blade decoration, etc. An understanding of these variations can allow the collector to better define the maker and the period of manufacture of swords that are encountered. While a study of all the variations of the hilts and blades would be useful, it is beyond the scope of a single essay. Because of this, the specific subject of this essay is limited the variations seen in the grips and grip coverings of these pattern swords. Both Union and Confederate swords are discussed, as well as US made and European import versions.

Rayskin Grips

The official description of the swords specifies "rayskin" over wood as the desired grip covering material. The "rayskin" (sometimes called shagreen) is actually fish skin taken from specific species of stingray or shark. This material was used because it does not readily breakdown or shrink when wet, and because the bumpy or rough surface would provide a good grip, especially when the sword user had sweaty hands. This material had been widely used in the 1800's in Europe for sword grips and was copied by the US. The rayskin grip covering is wrapped over a wood base. In most instances this wood base was pre-carved with grooves to provide a ribbed surface for the hand to grip. The covering is then wrapped with a single pair of twisted brass wire to keep the rayskin tight and firm. In some swords (often Confederate swords), this wood base was smooth and had the addition of a layer of cord wrapped around it. This cord layer acts to produce a ribbed surface when covered with the rayskin. The wire tended to be wrapped in between the cords enhacing the texture of the grip. Like the grooves in the carved wood bases, this cord layer over the smooth wood acted to provide a good gripping surface.

There are no known reproductions of the 1850 Foot Officers Sword that utilize rayskin as a grip covering.

Leather Grips

Some swordmakers, perhaps those that were located far from the sea and had trouble getting supplies of rayskin, turned to other materials for the grip covering. Leather is the second most popular material that was used as a grip covering over wood. The leather most often seen on swords of this pattern is black or sometimes brown. The leather on these swords will tend to show some age, with dry cracking, areas of abrasion, and will usually have a musty "old" smell to it.

Be aware that there are known reproductions of the US 1850 Foot Officers swords that have been produced in India. These swords are usually gripped in a specific type of modern leather or simulated leather. When viewed up close this leather material has a unique tonal pattern to it that reminds some people of treated snakeskin and does not look like regular leather.

This type of leather has been termed "Bombay Cobraskin" by some collectors. Once studied, it is easy to recognise with a magnifying glass. This leather material usually has a slightly "fishy" smell to it. When purposefully "antiqued" by an unscrupulous sword seller, these swords can be very convincing to the amateur collector. So when you encounter a leather gripped sword that looks kind of new, it is useful to visually inspect the leather for the "Bombay Cobraskin" pattern and check the smell. It should smell "old".

Bare Wood Grips

Some manufacturers (in particular several Confederate producers) omitted a grip covering altogether and used only bare wood. In these cases, good hardwood was selected for the grip and painted or stained black. Some of these grips had wire wrapping, others simply had the grooved surface with no wire, still others were smooth.

Horn Grips

Some French import swords were actually new made swords using French Army patterns or re-issues of older French Army swords. Many of these swords followed the French convention of using carved animal horn with no covering as the grip material. The horn is usually a dark black or a very dark brown, and is quite hard. These horn grip types usually utilized a single pair of twisted brass wire as a wrapping.

Malleable Metal (Pewter) Grips

One unusual grip covering material that has been seen by the author (and is quite rare) is pewter. At first inspection pewter grips appear just like the grey rayskin grips. They are gray and are wrapped with twisted brass wire. On closer inspection, the grip covering material is seen to be a soft metal alloy (assumed to be pewter or possibly another lead alloy), that has been skillfully formed over the grooved wood underneath. In the example seen by the quthor, the grip maker took the care to impress a bumpy pattern into the surface of the metal to simulate the bumpy pattern of rayskin. The stippled pattern actually resembles the smaller pattern of sharkskin rather than the more coarse bump of rayskin, but it is a good job in any case. There is even evidence of a seam impressed into the metal. The simulation is so good that when examining the sword, the author did not notice that the grip was not rayskin until it was specifically pointed out. It took a magnifying glass and scratch test to convince that it was indeed malleable metal over wood.

Molded Silver Grips

Another rare grip type is the silver grip. Solid silver grips were produced and used in the making of high quality swords such a presentation pieces. These are often molded with ridges to accommodate gold gilt wire grip wrapping. Other styles have no ridges and are smooth, sometimes decorated with engraving. Still others have a faceted surface with engraving. Please E-mail any questions

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