Attribution: The inscription 'SAHAVN' on the blade is a signature of the Spanish swordsmiths Alonso Sahagun Senior, who worked in Toledo circa 1570, and his son Luis Sahagun Junior. The authenticity of the signature is doubtful as long as the type of the small-sword blade does not correspond to the form of the blades which were produced in the last quarter of the 16th-early 17th сentiries – the masters' lifetime. Secondly, this signature was quite often forged and used by German armourers as a kind of quality mark both in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword is attributed in the museum's inventory to the early 18th century as produced in Germany. In the List of the Ryust-Kamera, it is mentioned among the German small-swords. However, stylistic analysis of the polished up "diamonds" décor, as well as the high quality of their execution, gives grounds to think that this weapon was produced in England, where such a technique appeared and was then spread yet in the late 17th century. It was imitated and adopted at some armouries of Europe, including Russia - at the Olonetsky Arms Plant during the rule of Peter the Great, and then in Tula.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword is attributed in the museum's inventory to the late 17th century as produced in Amsterdam. The time and the place of hilt production are defined by the marks, stamped on the guard. According to the type of construction, the hilt corresponds to the small-sword hilts of the last third of the 17th century.
Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: The small-sword is written in the museum's inventory as the German one of the 17th – 18th centuries. Judging by the engraving on the blade, the time of small-sword production dates back to the period of rule of Leopold I (1658-1705), Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The small-sword is decorated in a Turkish style that was characteristic of the works made by the South German and Austrian armourers.
Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: The small-sword was attributed in the museum's inventory to the mid-18th century as produced in Tula. Later it was re-attributed as made in Sweden in the early 18th century. In the List of the Ryust-Kamera, it was among the German small-swords.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword was might have been ordered for Peter I. His monogram with the Russian coat of arms on the tang end provides direct evidence for this. Obviously, the small-sword was created as an expensive gift. It could have been presented to Peter by the emperor himself or by one of the prince-electors. With one of them, Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, Peter I was not only an ally but a friend. The small-sword could have been among the gifts passed between the governors as an expression of mutual sympathy and alliance.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword was attributed in the museum's inventory to the 1730s as produced in Russia. However, the peculiarities of the hilt, namely its style and technical manner of production, high quality of details design and conformity with the preserved analogues speak about its West European origin. It must have been created by the French armourers in the 1720s.
Small-sword with Sword Knot and Scabbard
Attribution: V.I. Egorov, the expert on the history of Holstein regiments of Peter III, thinks that the sword knot has faded – earlier it used to be red, blue and gold – in colours of the Holstein troops. Yet at the beginning of Empress Anna Ioannovna rule, small-swords of Prussian soldiers and officers were set as an example of weapons for the Russian army. They were produced at the arms plants in Tula, Sestroretsk and Siberia. The Holstein troops under Peter III were armed in a Prussian manner that is why we can logically assume that these weapons were ordered from Prussia.
Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: The museum inventory marked this small-sword as made presumably in Russia in the mid-18th century. However, the hilt construction, namely the shape of the outer protective ring corresponds to the decoration of similar details of the earlier period. Such a form of the hilt was typical for the court swords in the 1660-1670s. We can assume that the hilt was produced in Germany around that time. During the period, when the weapon was frequently used, its blade was substituted.
Award Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: There are grounds to think that the hilt of this small-sword was ordered from England among other "golden small-swords with brilliants" to award generals for the war with Sweden.
Award Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: Together with the other small-sword, this one was produced in England in 1742-1743 as an honorary weapon upon the order of the Russian imperial court. This small-sword must have been the one ordered by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna for her cabinet to award Russian generals, but for some reason it was not bestowed.
Child's Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword is attributed in the museum's inventory to the late 18th century as the West European one. The engraving on the blade gives some ideas of possible production time and ownership. First of all, the inscriptions tell about the king-monarch. Secondly, the star, probably symbolizing birth by analogy with the Bethlehem star, is located above the crown of the prince-elector. The small-sword has a hilt sized for the child's hand. Among the heirs to the throne, only infant Ivan Antonovich was the son of Anton-Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig-Bevern-Lüneburg, who bore the title of prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. This small-sword might have belonged to Anton-Ulrich himself or might have been made especially for Ivan Antonovich. In 1740, the child's gun decorated with gold is known to have been produced in Russia especially for him, that is why we can assume that the production of this child's small-sword was ordered in the same way.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword might have earlier composed a set with a sword. In the late 18th century, both of them were among the arms, namely "the diamond things" of the Imperial Cabinet. The major part of arms appeared in Cabinet during the rule of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna. The hilts of the small-sword and the sword were firstly erroneously written as made of tombac in the List of Precious Things of the Cabinet, then this mistake was repeated in the List of the Ryust-Kamera and afterwards in the List of the Moscow Armoury Chamber of 1885.
Small-sword and Scabbard
Attribution: The small-sword belongs to the arms set, presented to Russian General Fabian Gottlieb Fürst von der Osten-Sacken by thankful citizens of Paris, the governor-general of which he used to be from the moment the Russian troops entered Paris up until the peace was concluded with France in May 1814. The small-sword together with the carbine and a pair of pistols from the set is distinct in the high level of jewellery work. Apart from weapons, the set included a powder flask, two bullet moulds with a hammer to knock out the bullets, and a kit of instruments for weapon care. It is noteworthy that the personal mark of N.N. Boutet in a shape of rhombus with a pistol, above which there is a letter N and under - a letter B, was stamped on the pieces extremely rare, on the most valuable samples only.
Cavalry Officer's Small-sword, model 1889
Attribution: According to the inscription on the blade, the small-sward belonged to the officer of the 17th Mecklenburg Dragoon's Regiment. The monogram, belonging to Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, allows specifying the time of its production. Thus, the small-sword could have been made in the period between the appearance of the drill sample and the end of the rule of the grand duke, i.e. between 1889 and 1897.
Small-sword
Attribution: The small-sword is attributed in the museum's inventory to the 19th century as made in Western Europe. The hilt is a fantasy one: the iron handle resembles the small-swords of the mid-18th c., the guard - the German small-swords and sabres of the mid-19th c. By its parameters, the blade resembles the rapier blade of the 17th century. The small-sword might have been made in the second half of the 19th century in the historicism style; in an eclectic manner, it unites the features of weapons of a different time. The master Gonsales, whose name is marked on the blade, is unknown.