Ⓐ A TROOPER'S SWORD OF THE EARL OF OXFORD'S REGIMENT OF HORSE, LAST QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
Ⓐ A TROOPER'S SWORD OF THE EARL OF OXFORD'S REGIMENT OF HORSE, LATER THE ROYAL HORSEGUARDS (THE BLUES), LAST QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with single-edged blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a pair of narrow fullers along the back-edge (extensive rust), brass hilt comprising double shell-guard cast in relief on each side with the crest of Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford enclosed by the most Noble Order of the Garter beneath a coronet, and linked to the knuckle-guard by a scrolling bar front and back, short quillon, globular pommel decorated front and back en suite with the shell-guard, and original wooden grip (cracked) with a moulded collar at the top
73.5 cm; 29 in blade
Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford (1627-1703) claimed to have led a 'regiment of scholars' from Oxford for the king in the first Civil War, though there is limited evidence of this. Shortly after his marriage to Anne Bayning in 1647 he embarked upon his career as a royalist conspirator, being considered for the post of general of the royalist forces in 1665. He was one of the so-called 'new lords' who took his seat in the house on 27 April 1660 and was made a knight of the garter the following month. The king also appointed him lord lieutenant of Essex and gave him command of the King's regiment of horse, or, as it was commonly known while he was its colonel, the Oxford Blues. The regiment enjoyed the King's favour and was entrusted with special duties attaching it to the sovereign.
He is recorded living riotously on the Piazza at Covent Garden in the 1660s, where on one occasion a brawl erupted among his guests which was only quelled after the arrival of troops dispatched by the duke of Albemarle. Samuel Pepys recorded in 1665 that he visited Oxford's house on business, and wrote 'his lordship was in bed at past ten o'clock: and Lord help us, so rude a dirty family I never saw in my life'.
Another sword from this group is preserved in the Museum of London (inv. no. A12992) and another is illustrated Brooker 2016, pp. 57.
Property from the David Jeffcoat Collection (1945-2020)
Part proceeds to benefit Westminster Abbey
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Ⓐ A TROOPER'S SWORD OF THE EARL OF OXFORD'S REGIMENT OF HORSE, LATER THE ROYAL HORSEGUARDS (THE BLUES), LAST QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with single-edged blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a pair of narrow fullers along the back-edge (extensive rust), brass hilt comprising double shell-guard cast in relief on each side with the crest of Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford enclosed by the most Noble Order of the Garter beneath a coronet, and linked to the knuckle-guard by a scrolling bar front and back, short quillon, globular pommel decorated front and back en suite with the shell-guard, and original wooden grip (cracked) with a moulded collar at the top
73.5 cm; 29 in blade
Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford (1627-1703) claimed to have led a 'regiment of scholars' from Oxford for the king in the first Civil War, though there is limited evidence of this. Shortly after his marriage to Anne Bayning in 1647 he embarked upon his career as a royalist conspirator, being considered for the post of general of the royalist forces in 1665. He was one of the so-called 'new lords' who took his seat in the house on 27 April 1660 and was made a knight of the garter the following month. The king also appointed him lord lieutenant of Essex and gave him command of the King's regiment of horse, or, as it was commonly known while he was its colonel, the Oxford Blues. The regiment enjoyed the King's favour and was entrusted with special duties attaching it to the sovereign.
He is recorded living riotously on the Piazza at Covent Garden in the 1660s, where on one occasion a brawl erupted among his guests which was only quelled after the arrival of troops dispatched by the duke of Albemarle. Samuel Pepys recorded in 1665 that he visited Oxford's house on business, and wrote 'his lordship was in bed at past ten o'clock: and Lord help us, so rude a dirty family I never saw in my life'.
Another sword from this group is preserved in the Museum of London (inv. no. A12992) and another is illustrated Brooker 2016, pp. 57.
Property from the David Jeffcoat Collection (1945-2020)
Part proceeds to benefit Westminster Abbey
