Etched Imperial Era Lionhead- Mint

[Swordfish]

This came from a fellow collector who had to sell this piece as he was financing another purchase. I couldn't refuse this one.

A killer, unmarked Eickhorn. Imperial era, pre-WW1. About 98% gilt gold wash intact. Really nicely etched blade. Some age spots, but otherwise wonderful. Scabbard appears to have been an early blued, dual suspension rings. The langets have the cavalry sabers and lances. Etching is a cavalry.

All in all, this is a wonderful rig. Stunning. This piece will stay in my collection till the end.

Just thought i'd share her.

[Santi]

Superb etching indeed! Awesome piece.
I have always wondered...Were the etchings made at requests of the owners of the sabers or were these delivered like this in an honor kind of gesture to people? If it was up to them to do make an etching to the sword, where did they take them to do so? Did this had an extra cost?

[scott powell]

that is ,without a doubt the BEST sword i have ever seen

[Swordfish]

The hilt is by far one of the best Imperial era pieces I have handled. When the owner contacted me with the piece, and a very nice price, I couldn't turn it down. I was in the midst of some purchases and he was good enough to allow me to pay it off over the course of a few weeks.

As far as imperial pieces go, this is a really nice one. The etch is really nice as well. Only detractor is the age spots. With some TLC, I was able to remove 90% of them and significantly lighten the darkest ones without damaging the etch.
Etched pieces need to be handled very gingerly as far as cleaning goes.

Etches were optional and certainly were costlier. Some of the priciest TR era pieces were the hand engraved pieces, etched, blue panels etc. Interestingly enough today, most of the the hand engraved hilts command less than thier cast counterparts. At the time, the hand engraved pieces commanded highest dollar and were typically only purchased by officers as those were the only ones who could afford the pieces. Often we see etched pieces on the engraved hilts together as a piece in this configuration was considered the nicest pieces of the day.

[RussellM]

Very nice sword - I can see how you couldn't turn it down. You're going to need another sword cabinet soon me-thinks!

Regards
Russ

[Swordfish]

Russ-
I know. You're right. I already have quite a few of them not displayed. Once the bed is out of the guest bedroom, i'll have room to build another display. It'll be a compromise this time though. The wife want's bottom that's set up for storage like a standard cabinette.

Something I forgot to add is that the sharkskin grip on her is smashing. These grips tend to degrade considerably over time. This one was obviously stored prefectly as it's totally preserved. No grip damage at all which is quite rare. They just didn't stand up the way thier celluloid counterparts did.

[pvluger]

Russ-
I know. You're right. I already have quite a few of them not displayed. Once the bed is out of the guest bedroom, i'll have room to build another display. It'll be a compromise this time though. The wife want's bottom that's set up for storage like a standard cabinette.

Something I forgot to add is that the sharkskin grip on her is smashing. These grips tend to degrade considerably over time. This one was obviously stored prefectly as it's totally preserved. No grip damage at all which is quite rare. They just didn't stand up the way thier celluloid counterparts did.

What a great piece! Just out of curiousity, what does your wife think about all those sabers? I hate when my girlfriend says, "Why do you have more than one of the same dagger?" I only tried once to explain. The great part is I have so much $h!t she never knows what just came in.:lol: She thinks I stop collecting 5 years ago!

[Swordfish]

What a great piece! Just out of curiousity, what does your wife think about all those sabers? I hate when my girlfriend says, "Why do you have more than one of the same dagger?" I only tried once to explain. The great part is I have so much $h!t she never knows what just came in.:lol: She thinks I stop collecting 5 years ago!



Heheeeeheeeee...

I guess my wife is ambivalent. She respects my addiction...I mean my hobby, and takes it in stride. I sneak things in like sabers...how I have no idea..maybe my wife is blind and I just don't know it. She does draw the line though. I once framed all the armbands, HJs/NSDAP, etc and she flipped out. I had to take them down and put them in the safe (so if anyone wants to buy them let me know as they don't do me any good anymore). The best are the KM badges. They are all in a single frame. It started with 1, then 2, then 3, then...and so on. Best part is that they are in a frame right in front of the desktop computer..which we both use. I don't know if she's noticed the badges multiplying...she hasn't said anything....so I'll take her silence as condonement;).

On a serious note, I think she's ok with it. She usually closes the bunker hatch when we have guests over...especially if the guests are not intamitely friends or are African American, or Jewish, etc as she doesn't want to offend them or have them get the wrong idea (even though my friends who are religously Hebrew think the stuff is cool..in a historical context of course). But she keeps it up like a good sport. Beside, I collect everything WW2...not just German, although German sabers are my favorite.

[pvluger]

Heheeeeheeeee...

I guess my wife is ambivalent. She respects my addiction...I mean my hobby, and takes it in stride. I sneak things in like sabers...how I have no idea..maybe my wife is blind and I just don't know it. She does draw the line though. I once framed all the armbands, HJs/NSDAP, etc and she flipped out. I had to take them down and put them in the safe (so if anyone wants to buy them let me know as they don't do me any good anymore). The best are the KM badges. They are all in a single frame. It started with 1, then 2, then 3, then...and so on. Best part is that they are in a frame right in front of the desktop computer..which we both use. I don't know if she's noticed the badges multiplying...she hasn't said anything....so I'll take her silence as condonement;).

On a serious note, I think she's ok with it. She usually closes the bunker hatch when we have guests over...especially if the guests are not intamitely friends or are African American, or Jewish, etc as she doesn't want to offend them or have them get the wrong idea (even though my friends who are religously Hebrew think the stuff is cool..in a historical context of course). But she keeps it up like a good sport. Beside, I collect everything WW2...not just German, although German sabers are my favorite.

Yeah, I mixed it up so it doesnt look like its only Nazi stuff. I was getting **** about an 80x135 Reichskriegsflag I had hanging so instead of putting it away forever and never displaying it I used it in a trade in for an SS dagger with their all so tiny runic button. When I have guest over I have to close up shop as well. My uncle's wife's parents are holocaust survivors and she used to sort of give me **** when I was younger, but I think she understands now that I'm just a historical guy and absolutely dont buy into any of the political BS that originated with any of my stuff. That takes time to convince people of.:001_unsure:

PS, I might be interested in some of your armbands. Could you e-mail me any pics?