[WAR OF 1812] Weaver Eagle-Pommel Saber, "Honour and my Country"

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Day 2: Early & Historic Americana

By Fleischer's Auctions

Oct 10, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-10-10 09:00:00 2025-10-10 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Day 2: Early & Historic Americana https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-2-early-historic-americana-19250
Day one of Fleischer's 2025 Fall Premier auction includes early American artifacts, documents, signatures, ephemera, and weaponry. Rare material relating to African American history is featured, as well as fine examples of antique photography. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com

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• Lot Description

  Horseman's saber. [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Emmor T. Weaver, ca. 1810]. 

   

  Complete in leather scabbard. 32 in. curved blade with 25 3/4 in. stopped fuller. Overall 38 3/4 in. Blade engraved to the obverse with a stand of crossed cannons, American flags, and a Phrygian cap on a pole, a federal eagle beneath 17 stars and an "E Pluribus Unum" riband, a laurel wreath, and a 7-armed sun with a face at its center. Engraved to reverse with "Honour and My Country" in a bold, looping script. Black wooden grip with brass eagle head pommel, knucklebow, and ferrule. Remnant of original leather washer. Scabbard drag with the signature Weaver rattlesnake.

   

  The blade exhibits some light pitting, and the brass furniture is darkly patinated, though traces of the original finish are visible. The scabbard top mount is absent entirely, and around 1 inch of the blade is uncovered when sheathed. 

   

  Though not legibly marked, this sword is almost certainly the work of Emmor Trego Weaver (b. 1786). Weaver's early products, as well as this piece, feature a "floating" pommel. Later Weaver swords would incorporate a backstrap to act as a stabilizing element at the cost of misshaping the pommels. Weaver worked predominantly in silver, and the thin, curled quillons to his hilts resembled the period's coin silver teaspoons, which Weaver also manufactured. A belief exists among some modern collectors that his hilts recycled these very spoons as counterguards.

   

  Perhaps the feature most associated with Weaver swords is the square-nosed rattlesnake drag to the scabbard that he designed. The rattlesnake was a Revolutionary War-era patriotic symbol that, accompanied by the motto "Don't Tread On Me," became a popular motif among swordsmiths in Philadelphia. Most Weaver rattlesnakes were silhouettes, as is the case with this example, but some featured elaborate etched scales and faces. Local competitor and prominent sword maker Frederick William Widmann (d. 1848) would go on to copy the design almost exactly. 

   

  Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.

   

  [Swords, Knives, Bowie Knives, Knife, Blades] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Quasi-War, War of 1812]

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