British Klingenthal blades
Richard Dellar looks at four examples of British swords with blades marked to the French National manufactory at Klingenthal
Richard Dellar investigates four examples of British swords with blades marked to the French National manufactory at Klingenthal. Where did they come from?
The four examples of sword blades illustrated in this feature were all made between 1801 and 1816 and include the GR cypher of George III and the British 1801-16 Royal Arms amongst their blade decoration. However, all four blades are also signed ‘Klingenthal’ on the back edge which, ostensibly indicates that they were the product of the French National Manufactory at Klingenthal. However, all may not be as it seems.
The French National Manufactory
The French arms manufactory at Klingenthal in the Alsace region of north-eastern France was founded in the reign of Louis XV by royal decree on 15 July 1730. Production at the facility commenced in 1731. At that time, the manufactory was designated as the Manufacture Royale d’Alsace. The objective was to limit the number of blades imported from Solingen in Germany and establish a national base in France for the manufacture of bladed weapons. Nevertheless, as might be expected, most of the original craftsmen when the facility commenced production were natives of Solingen.
In 1768, the manufactory was renamed as the Manufacture Nationale du Klingenthal (Klingenthal in German literally meaning ‘valley of blades’), before becoming the Manufacture Impériale du Klingenthal when Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of France in 1804. The name changed to Manufacture Royale du Klingenthal after Napoleon’s first abdication in 1814, reverting to Impériale again during the 100 days from March to June 1815 when Napoleon returned from his first exile. It reverted back to Royale after Napoleon’s second abdication following his defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815.
Although Klingenthal was a government establishment, set up primarily for the production of state arms and regulated by government inspectors, it was operated by private enterprise and run by contractors (entrepreneurs). Between 1731 and 1801, Klingenthal was operated by seven different contractors. However, in 1801 the manufactory came under the control of the Coulaux family who remained as entrepreneurs until 1962, a total of 161 years.
During the period from 1800 to 1815 when the Napoleonic wars between France and the rest of Europe were at their height, the output of Klingenthal was prodigious by any standards: 69,839 heavy cavalry model An XIII blades and 97,961 light cavalry model An XI blades were produced for the use of the French and allied cavalry alone. The name Klingenthal has become synonymous with the glory days of the French First Empire when Napoleon was master of Europe. Following the end of the Napoleonic wars however, the proximity of Klingenthal to the German border became an issue for the French authorities and it was decided in 1819 to establish another centre for the production for state arms at Châtellerault, near Poitiers in central France. Production of state weapons at Klingenthal subsequently declined and came to an end in 1836. Thereafter it produced only private civilian items until its closure in 1962.
1796 and 1821. The blade is 35¼in long x 1 7/16in wide at the shoulder and has blue and gilt decoration on both sides which includes the GR cypher of George III and the British 1801-16 Royal Arms (Numbers 4-5). However, the blade also bears the signature ‘Klingenthal’ along its back edge (Number 3). No other maker’s names are present on either sword or scabbard. 1796 Pattern ‘ladder-hilt’ (Photograph John Sheard)
Were the blades made at Klingenthal?
There seems little doubt that the blade of sword number four, which is marked both to Klingenthal and Coulaux
Frères, was made at Klingenthal. In all likelihood, the blade was made by private commission from a British officer serving with the Allied army of occupation in Paris, following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in June 1815. That Allied army comprised some 30,000 troops from Britain, Prussia, Russia and various other states. Its purpose was not only to secure the Allies from further French aggression but also to protect the newly re-established Bourbon monarchy from any further revolutionary uprising.
The occupation lasted from 1815 until November 1818.
The blades numbered one to three, however, present a different proposition. The style and lettering of the etched inscription ‘Klingenthal’, on the back edge of these blades, does not match any known (to the author) Klingenthal inscriptions on the back of French blades. Rather, the form of lettering is almost an exact match for the inscriptions found on the back of British blades, imported from Solingen by the London-based merchant JJ Runkel – see No. 18.
John Justus Runkel was a Germanborn merchant based in London who imported many thousands of swords and blades into Britain between 1780 and 1807. His suppliers in Solingen included the Neef family of blade makers, as Runkel married Anna Marie Neef c. 1785. Runkel’s business came to an abrupt end in 1807 following the French occupation of Solingen and the prohibition by the Emperor Napoleon of all trade between continental Europe and Britain.
The matching in style of the inscriptions on the back of Solingenmade blades imported to Britain by Runkel and the three Klingenthal marked blades above (Blades 1-3) may have many explanations. One such possible explanation, which is my personal theory, may be as follows:
Along with many others, a British heavy cavalry officer was ordered to
Paris as part of the army of occupation following Waterloo in 1815. The officer’s sword had sustained a broken or damaged blade during the course of that battle and he therefore ordered a replacement blade from Klingenthal, the most well sword production facility in France with a reputation for high quality blades. However Klingenthal did not have the necessary patterns to manufacture a British 1796 Pattern heavy cavalry blade. Klingenthal did, however, have contacts in Solingen due to the close collaboration between the two blade making centres from 1807 to 1813. Klingenthal was aware that certain Solingen makers had made British blades for the merchant J J Runkel and that, due to the abrupt end of that trade between Runkel and Solingen in 1807, there were redundant stocks of British blades left over in Solingen. Klingenthal therefore ordered a replacement blade, or in all likelihood a batch of these blades, from its Solingen contact.
The Solingen maker, as was its practice with Runkel, inscribed the name of its customer, ie Klingenthal, on the back edge of these blades. The blades may have received their blue and gilt decoration either in Solingen or Klingenthal but, based on the style of such decoration, it seems more likely that they were decorated at Klingenthal. Other British officers then followed suit and ordered replacement blades either as a result of damage or for enhancement.
Of course the above is conjecture only. Until more information comes to light, the true story behind these blades must remain unknown.
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Acknowledgements: I am indebted to Philip J Lankester and Stephen Wood for commenting on earlier drafts of this article.