Armory - France - 18th century - Lot 109

Armory - France - 18th century Old Regime Gendarmerie saber, model 1787. The gilded brass frame features a short, oval-shaped cap, a horizontal groove at the top of the tail, and a globular rivet knob. The wooden handle is entirely filigree with herringbone-braided brass wire. The joint arch is arched and supports three "S"-shaped secondary branches, grooved and terminating in scrolls. The upper branch is doubled. Wide top with drop quillon. The straight, single-edged, pan-creux steel blade is blued on the first third and engraved near the heel with the initials "NK", and on both sides, in formerly gilded floral registers, with the words "Gendarmerie...", the rest of which was erased following the revolutionary period. Total length 109 cm. Like the cavalry and dragoons, the blackened leather scabbard is fitted with three brass fittings: a cap with button and ring, a bracelet with ring and a cap with frontal stinger. The Maréchaussée, known since 1791 as the Gendarmerie Nationale, is defined in the Edict of 1778 as follows: "the Maréchaussée is employed in all circumstances to maintain the good order of public authority.