SWORD, JANISSARY CORPS

Saxon-Polish, ca. 1729.
Brass hilt consisting of cast halves soldered with copper. Hexagonal conical grip with a central ridge. Quillons with short square arms and scrolled ends, decoration: initials "AR" (King August II of Poland) with a crown on top on a dotted ground. Single-edged blade (L 67.2 cm, W 4.5 cm), wide hollow cut on both sides, double-edged in the last third, etched decoration: initial "AR" with a crown on top in a Baroque cartouche.
L 81.5 cm.

In 1729, Colonel Christoph von Unruh, in the service of the Polish King and Saxon Duke August II (1697-1733), established a Janissary Corps (4 companies of 100 men each), recruited mainly from Poland and Hungary. The corps was stationed in Dresden and Warsaw. An exceptionally rare hand-held weapon. Cf. Catalogue "Trag diese Wehr zu Sachsens Ehr, 1994, pp. 16-17, No. 4.