The short hunting sword or cuttoe, a corruption of the French “couteau de chasse,” was convenient to carry in the field and originally intended to finish off wounded game. In Europe, where hunting was regulated and a leisure sport for nobility, the sword itself was an indicator of class, something that carried over into 18^th century America, where it shows up in the hands of military officers not just because it might be at hand and easy to carry, but because it confirmed the officer was a gentleman. Washington’s best known sword is perhaps his hunting sword made by Bailey of Fishkill, N.Y.

This is a good Revolutionary War period example, perhaps best dated broadly 1750-1770, measuring about 20 ½ inches overall, with a 15 ½ inch blade. The white bone grip goes from round at the guard to slightly oval and flaring at the pommel, and is carved typically of the period, with spiral bands that likely held a flat gilt or silvered copper ribbon in the central channel and perhaps twisted wires in the narrower channels bordering it. The pommel has a sunburst of narrow grooves radiating out from the blade tang, which is peened over on a slightly convex, square steel base with rounded edges. The grip has a short narrow crack coming up from the brass ferrule at the guard on obverse, and two longer ones from top to bottom on the reverse, but the bone is stable is stable and there do not seem to be any large chips or missing pieces. The color is a creamy white with a few brown stains, and some gray along the channels that might be from a binding wire.

The guard is brass, with a ferrule for the grip, two short recurved quillons with globular notched ends, which are mirrored is some diagonal notches at the base of the quillon block that are also a counterpoint to the swirl of the grip carving. The quillon block ends with a flat oval disc that would have helped seal the scabbard.

The blade is fairly straight, with a long ricasso, single wide main fuller and a narrower fuller running under the back edge to within about 3 ½ inches of the spearpoint tip. The metal is a mix of gray with some darker gray and brown stains, s some areas of shallow pitting, but with some bright areas as well. The edge and point are good. The edge of the ricasso shows a couple of dings. The blade may have had some light etching, but this not visible. The brass guard is a little bright from handling but is toning down.

The variety of swords falling into this category can be seen in several sources, including Neumann’s “Battle Weapons of the American Revolution,” where they encompass plates 84.SS to 103.SS, or in his earlier “Swords and Blades,” plates 84.S to 124.S. This would go well in a collection display or as a nice example of something an ancestor might have carried. [sr] [ph:m]

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