Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

A fine Irish presentation saber image 1
A fine Irish presentation saber image 2
Lot 4095

A fine Irish presentation saber
dated 1810

17 November 2008, 10:00 PST
San Francisco

Sold for US$11,700 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Arms and Armour specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

A fine Irish presentation saber
dated 1810

Curved 32 1/2 inch blade etched, engraved, blued and gilded with panoplies of arms, panels of allegorical figures including Britannia and Justice, a scrolling key fret band and false Damascus pattern ground. Central presentation inscription reads: Given By The Gentlemen Of The County/Of Kilkenny to William Izod Esq. High Sheriff/For His Gallant Conduct on y. 15 Augt. 1810. Steel guard comprised of quillons in the form of fasces, quillon block set with gilt panel adorned with an eagle and fluted, triangular languets, the knucklebow adorned with gilt leaf. Gilt pommel/backstrap molded with laurel branches. Checkered ebony grip with gilt blossom-form rivets. Black shagreen-covered scabbard with long gilt mounts adorned with laurels on a stippled ground, the throat with an applied panel of St. George and the dragon, the reverse signed by the maker. Brunn. Steel suspension mounts in the form of fasces. Chape with gilt shoe chased with leafage and framed by a scrolling steel band.
Condition: Blade showing patches of light pitting and some wear to decoration.
See Illustration

Footnotes

Note: William Izod, 1782-1846. His family was of Gloucestershire origin. He also served as a Major in the Kilkenny Militia.

According to Kilkenny Studies in Honour of Margaret M. Phelan by Edward Law; "...in 1810, a public meeting resolved ‘to present a sword, suitable to such an occasion’ to William Izod, the high sheriff of the county, in recognition of his gallant conduct on 15 August 1810. He had received information of a proposed attack by an armed band: laying in wait with four ‘confidential men’ he routed the gang of twelve or fourteen, two of whom were killed. The four men who assisted were each to have received a case of pistols and fifteen guineas." (This quote courtesy of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society website.)

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A Silver-Mounted Left-Hand Dagger, probably German, Italian or English Late 16th Century Or Later

A Cased Pair Of Scottish 50-Bore Percussion Duelling Or Target Pistols By Alex.r Martin, Glasgow, Mid-19th Century

The medals and associate ephemera and uniforms of Arthur Watts, 6th Inniskilling Dragoons

A Pair Of Highland All-Metal Percussion Belt Pistols Signed Paton & Walsh Perth, Mid 19th century