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Scottish Basket Hilt Sword of N.Y. Revolutionary War Colonel Nicholas Quackenbush, ca 1740s. Steel basket hilt formed of narrow bars forming openwork hearts, diamonds and circles. Rear quillon stamped WAS (for Walter Allan Stirling). The two side regions of the basket hilt are symmetrical. All iron parts of the hilt have undulating edges. Shagreen and wire copper wrapped grip. Pommel is a segmented pattern and unites with the ends of the knuckle-guards. 32.25" single-edged double-fullered unmarked steel blade, leather sheath with embossed lozenge pattern, overall length 38.25". [See MacKenzie et al. 1996; Finer, 1995: Lot 200.]
Walter Allan was one of the most skillful Scottish hilt-makers; his hilts are usually very delicate and ornate. He was admitted Freeman of the Incorporation of Hammermen at Stirling in 1732. Nicholas Quackenbush (1734-1813) was the Continental Army Asst Quartermaster General, (1775-1783) was a member of a powerful Dutch family in the Hudson River Valley. He sided with the Revolutionary cause in the 1760s through 1780s, serving as Assistant Deputy Quartermaster to the Continental forces in Albany with rank as Major. A major trade and transport route linking British-held New York City with the Iroquois country, Canada, and to the settlements along the Mohawk River, the Hudson was a strategic keystone for both Patriot and Redcoat, and it was the focus of particularly bitter contestation. From the fight for Fort Ticonderoga and invasion of Quebec at the start of the armed struggle, to Benedict Arnold’s West Point plot, to the final evacuation of British troops in 1783, control of the Hudson was viewed as critical to military success. Condition reportLacking ball on top of pommel. One of the extensions on the hilt is fractured. Original ferrules are missing. Blade is an Eighteenth century replacement - most likely German. Blade has a wide fuller running the full length of the blade. Blade with another small fuller, above it extending to within 8" of the tip. Entire blade and hilt covered with a brown patina. The scabbard is leather and much of the original surface is cracked and missing. Some of the stitching on the scabbard is unraveling. Leather tip of scabbard and original steel throat tip is missing.
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