THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY witnessed a near monopoly of supply to Britain for both hunting and civilian blades by the German sword makers of Solingen and Passau. They were able to produce blades to order and offered a complete range from curved and straight, to saw-backed. Blades are found with flat-backed profiles, double-edged or double-edged near the point, single-fullered and multi-fullered, terminating either a short length from the ricasso or travelling the full length of the blade. This great variety of blade types is testament to the sheer number of hunting swords that were produced during the century and exported to Britain. Sword cutlers in England were unable to complete with foreign hunting blades, both on price and quality, and there are very few genuine hunting swords (hilt and blade) during this period that can claim to have a wholly English origin, so examples shown in this book will likely have been made abroad but carried in Britain.
Although the hunting sword in the 18th Century was meant to be a practical tool for despatching an animal, it is very unlikely that they were all used for this purpose and in a time when appearance and social status was paramount, hunting swords joined smallswords, in being items of everyday fashion. This can be seen in the quality of materials and craftsmanship incorporated into making these swords. They range from basic examples, comprising hilts of brass with simple undecorated shell guards, wooden grips and unfullered blades, to artisan masterpieces with enamelled, agate and horn grips, silver rococo-styled hilts and elegant, multi-fullered blades. A lot of these high end and fragile pieces would not have been practical when carried on a hunt and were purely for display.
English workers did play some part in the manufacture of hunting swords and this was in the production of hilts. At the beginning of the 18th Century, London was the centre for mounting of agate handles to hunting swords and hangers, and the majority are of the silver-hilted type. Porcelain and the newly introduced tortoise-shell, sourced from the hawksbill turtle native to South East Asia, are also materials found on the grips of hunting swords.
Tortoise-shell was a popular material because when heated, it became soft and malleable and could be shaped, moulded and impressed or used to inlay decoration and it is common to see a combination of silver and tortoise-shell on silver hunting hilts.
Hilt knucklebows tend to be of a uniform, rounded D-shape, and in the early 18th Century, the influence of contemporary rococo styles is quite prevalent, with designs of cherubic putti, classical busts and hunting animals both to the guard and quillon finials. This is also extended to the shell guards. It is interesting to note that steel hilts are not that common with hunting swords, although examples are known. This is due to the fact that steel is a much harder material to work with than the softer metals of brass and silver and cutlers would naturally work with what was easiest and most profitable.
Decoration to the blade is more frequently noted from the mid-18th Century and usually takes the form of engraved hunting scenes of boar and stag hunts, with dogs and huntsmen in pursuit of the animals. German blades are also found with talismanic or cabbalistic numbers and symbols, perhaps with the intention of providing the huntsman with magical powers that would enable him to be successful in the hunt.
© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024