Description

American Revolutionary War Saber Attributed to Jeremiah Snow of Massachusetts 

26.5" single fuller blade, brass urn pommel with slot guard and turned wooden handle attributed to sword maker Jeremiah Snow, Sr. (1735-1803) of Springfield, Mass.

Jeremiah Snow was a colonial silversmith who occasionally produced at least two varieties of swords between 1760 and 1783, an officer's short saber and a horseman's saber (Bezdek, American Swords and Sword Makers, p. 198). Horseman sabers made by Snow feature a distinctive brass stirrup hilt and wooden grip (usually cherry) having a forward slanting diagonal incised ring pattern for the wire wrapping. Snow utilized mostly triple-fullered blades of Spanish origin from the Cuban trade (Mowbray: 1979). Locally made single-fuller blades are also recognized as having been made by Snow. Snow's touchmark appearing as I.SNOW. in a rectangular cartouche is typically, but not always, found stamped into the brass counterguard. The identical mark is also found in silver tableware items made by Jeremiah Snow. His son, Jeremiah Snow, Jr. (1764-bef 1829), also worked as a silversmith in Amherst, Mass. using a nearly identical touchmark. An article from the March/April 1979, pp. 26-30 of Man at ARMS magazine by Andrew Mowbray entited In Search of Jeremiah Snow - Revolutionary War Sword Cutler provides in-depth information on this obscure American sword maker. 

Condition

Very good with salt and pepper patina on blade. No scabbard.