Original Items: One-of-a-kind pair. These are fascinating; a pair of British well marked Georgian Cutlasses no doubt from the Royal Navy. Substantial 25″ x 1.5, curved cutlass blades with blood gutter. Iron cast grips with knurled chocolate bar pattern and brass stirrup hilt guards in brass. Having been modified by having the second knuckle bow removed, clearly officially” altered, these are consecutively numbered on the pommel end of each brass guard:
W.I.D.C. No.3
W.I.D.C. No.4
Each blade is heavily stamped with CROWN over G.R. on the left side (Georgius Rex). The cast iron grip is very reminiscent of the British P1804 Naval Boarding Cutlass, but the brass guard assembly throws us off.
The first examples we have encountered, and the only information we can find is contained in “A 19th-Century Chest of Arms”, an article by Lankester & Rimer published in the Royal Armouries Yearbook, Volume 3, 1998, which illustrates examples with and without the branch guard.
Clearly an official pattern for some specific use the rack number initials pose many questions. Could they mean West Indies District Command? Any ideas? Clearly Georgian era 1805-1830 perhaps even earlier. British military likely Naval with the second knuckle bows removed for ease of storage and access aboard a Man-o-War.
30 overall.