A SILVER-MOUNTED SMALL SWORD
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERIC MARTIN WUNSCH
A SILVER-MOUNTED SMALL SWORD

MARK OF JACOB HURD, BOSTON, CIRCA 1735

Details
A SILVER-MOUNTED SMALL SWORD
MARK OF JACOB HURD, BOSTON, CIRCA 1735
With slender, tapering blade of triangular section, the silver hilt with double-shell guard and knop pommel, the grip wrapped with silver wire, the guard later engraved Col. J C Symmes, 1776 and Col C Symmes 1798 on top, J M Symmes 1903 and May A B Symmes 1904 beneath guard, and W W Symmes 1916 on knuckle guard, no sheath, marked on guard with Kane mark C
34 ½ in (87.6 cm) long

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Lot Essay

John Cleves Symmes (1742-1814) is best known for being a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress. When the Revolution broke out, Symmes served as Colonel of the 3rd regiment of the Sussex County Militia and was called into action with the Continental Army on numerous occasions, most notably in assisting Washington’s retreat through New Jersey. After the war, he was permitted by the new government to purchase 330,000 acres of land in present day Ohio.

Jacob Hurd was a more prolific sword-maker than his peers. Approximately ten swords are known, including a sword for Col. William Prescott (1726-1795) commander of the Revolutionary forces at The Battle of Bunker Hill. Examples of Hurd's swords are illustrated in Jeannine Falino, Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000, 2008, pp. 91-93, and Ian M.G. Quimby, American Silver at Winterthur, 1995, no. 85, p. 130.

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