Sold Antique 18th C Polish Saxon Swiss Sword of Augustus II King Of Poland

Very Rare Authentic Antique, 18th century, circa 1730 A.D. Polish – Saxon Gala sword of the Hundred Life Swiss Guards of Augustus II the Strong, king of Poland, and electors of Saxony. An extremely rare antique, as only 120 of these swords were made and very few survived to the present date, they are primarily in museums. A slightly curved sturdy blade, cut on each face with full-length, slender fuller along the back-edge, engraved on both sides with the cipher "AR" under a crown (Augustus Rex) z (King of Poland August II. 1697 - 1733). A massive two-piece cast brass hilt comprised of a grip with a lion head pommel, thumb ring, re-curved knuckle guard with down-turned quilon with a central clam-shell guard. Originally the hilt of this sword was silver-plated, the remains of the silvering are still visible in some places on the hilt- please see the pictures. This is an example of a very rare authentic antique, 18th century, circa 1729 A.D. Polish -Saxon sword of the Hundred Life Swiss Guards of Augustus II the Strong, king of Poland. There are only a few known existing examples of this model of the sword: One example of this sword in the entire Poland (sword in the Polish Army Museum (Muzeum Wojska Polskiego) in Warsaw, and a few swords in Germany possible less than 5 swords. MEASUREMENTS:
 Overall length: 86.7cm (34.13 inches).
 Length of the blade: 74.4 cm (29.29 inches).
 Width of the blade at the widest point: 3.8 cm (1.5 inches).
 Thickness of the blade spine: 9 mm (0.35 inches). CONDITION: Showing age and usage, silver plating on the hilt completely worn out. In Excellent condition for an antique combat sword that is over 288 years old. According to the book “Trag' diese Wehr zu Sachsens Her. Militärische Hieb- und Stichwaffen Sachsens von 1700 bis 1918 aus dem Bestand des Militärhistorischen Museums Dresden”; page 65. This type of the sword comes in two versions, a gala version and a daily service version. An inventory of the Schweizer-Garde from 1742, shows in the stock 120 sabers with silvered brass gala mounting, and 120 sabers with ordinary plane brass hilt for daily service. With the additional information that the sabers of the Swiss Guards were made by the Solingen blade makers Johann Wilhelm Hermans. To view a related sword in the German museum please see the link below: https://www.museum-digital.de/st/index.php?t=objekt&oges=3752  REFERENCES: 1. Historia broni siecznej by Tadeusz Królikiewicz; page 35. 2. Blankaffen aus drei Jahrhunderten by Klaus Hilbert; page 56, No.28. 3. Trag' diese Wehr zu Sachsens Her. Militärische Hieb- und Stichwaffen Sachsens von 1700 bis 1918 aus dem Bestand des Militärhistorischen Museums Dresden; page 65, No.66/67. 4. Die Armee - August des Starken. Das sächsische Herr von 1730 bis 1733 by Reinhold Müller; page 52, No.3. The sword from the collection of the Polish Army Museum (Muzeum Wojska Polskiego) in Warsaw, lustrated in the book Historia broni siecznej by Tadeusz Krolikiewicz has a very unusual blade which is completely different from the regulation, blade on this sword was probably custom made for an individual officer of the Swiss Guard. Also In this book it stated that the Hundred Life Swiss Guards of Augustus II the Strong, king of Poland, was formed in 1725 in Warsaw Poland. Pictures of these references are attached to the listing. We will also provide the buyer with photocopies of the pages from the mentioned references together with a certificate of authenticity. PROVENANCE: We have acquired this sword together with other Polish antiques, including also, antique Polish arms and armour from an old Canadian collection. This is once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire such a superb rare sword. This model of the sword is so rare that it is not included in the best books on the GermanAntique Arms: Hieb- und Stichwaffen by Eduard Wagner and the book Europäische Hieb- und Stichwaffen aus der Sammlung des Museums für Deutsche Geschichte. Augustus II the Strong, 12 May 1670 Dresden – 1 February 1733. Warsaw, became King of Poland 1697-1733. German August der Starke Elector of Saxony (as Frederick Augustus I); Polish: August II Mocny. The Swiss-Guards in 1730 has 108 trabant's.6 minstrels and 15 batches Link: http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Schweizer_Garde_%28Sa... 

 
 
Names of the listed Swiss guard members in 1730: 
 

  
Link: http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Schweizer_Garde_%28Sa...