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Price is $300 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Anyone seen a Mameluke sword with real ivory hilt?
- Thread starter sksiazki
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I think you'd best go directly to the Sword Forum International with this one. I have indeed seen one of these ... in Turkey ... years ago. I hope you are aware that ivory is problematic as a grip (tends to split, crack, etc.), although it is lovely.
http://swordforum.com/
You'll want some authentication on anything you find. There are a lot of fakes out there. SFI could likely also help you with that, or perhaps the estimable Mr. Bernard Levine (he has a sub-forum here). If you do eventually need Mr. Levine's help, you'll want to prepare a complete, high quality set of photos from every angle to help Mr. Levine and his acolytes 'do their thing.'
You might do better asking a custom maker to create a new one for you. There are many good makers here ... and you'll find many more on SFI.
Best of luck to you! And keep us informed on your search.
P.S. One more thought. I see we do have an overseas forum or two here, and you can probably find more overseas forums (the British forum comes to mind, given that the Brits carried some Mameluke-style swords in the 19th century). You might find something useful out of France, Egypt, or Turkey, also.
horseclover
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The numbers of original U.S. swords with ivory play against the odds of finding one in reasonable condition for uniform wear, if that was purpose. Aside from the orders from Birmingham in the first half of the 19th century, you will likely find none. There was a period of that century where the mameluke was dropped and by the time it was adopted again, celluloid and other plastics were the way to go. I should pull a couple of titles here instead of guessing at dates but from roughly the 1850s to the 1870s, the mamelukes had been replaced by what is now your marine nco sabre. Previous to the 1850 foot officer variant being assigned to the ncos, that was the marine officer's sword and the ncos (from 1840-1870s) carried swords similar to the the army's 1840 sergeant's spadroon. On going back to the mameluke for officers, it was felt the ncos deserved an upgrade from the simpler straight spadroon.
At any rate, if looking for a collectible, it will be a matter of catch as catch can and as mentioned, a pretty rare find at this point. The British 1831s are plentiful and most through the 20th century will be ivory (typically $1500 and up these days). I was just reading hard numbers for mamelukes contracted from Birmingham when first officially adopted by the U.S. but am not recalling where I saw that. I'm sure I was tracking something else at the time. There are several good web pages on Marine uniform and sword regulation going right back to the beginnings. It is that early break in regulation and that England controlled the ivory trade that makes the use of the material on American swords less common than one might think. Post American Civil War, almost unheard of.
Cheers
GC
At any rate, if looking for a collectible, it will be a matter of catch as catch can and as mentioned, a pretty rare find at this point. The British 1831s are plentiful and most through the 20th century will be ivory (typically $1500 and up these days). I was just reading hard numbers for mamelukes contracted from Birmingham when first officially adopted by the U.S. but am not recalling where I saw that. I'm sure I was tracking something else at the time. There are several good web pages on Marine uniform and sword regulation going right back to the beginnings. It is that early break in regulation and that England controlled the ivory trade that makes the use of the material on American swords less common than one might think. Post American Civil War, almost unheard of.
Cheers
GC
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