Scabbard
A. Hay
Category
Arms and armour
Date
Unknown
Materials
Brass, Ivory, Leather, Steel
Measurements
820 x 25 mm
Place of origin
Edinburgh
Order this imageCollection
Lanhydrock, Cornwall
NT 880836.2
Summary
Red leather scabbard with brass end pieces for an early 19th Century dress sword with etched steel blade, chased brass half hilt and an ivory and brass handle. Made in Edinburgh by A. Hay. There is leather on the scabbard only. The scabbard is made up of a core, of roughly elliptical cross-section, which is covered with very thin red sheepskin. The core consists of a single strip of hide or split-hide which has been folded over and stitched down its length at the centre of its larger width. The stitching is in the form of a butted seam. The core is strengthened down its length by the insertion of two wooden (bamboo?) stiffeners, the latter being secured in the internal corners of the scabbard, adjacent to the cutting edges of the blade. These stiffeners are long, narrow, lightweight slivers of timber. The red covering material is wrapped around the core and glued in place. The scabbard is narrow and is tapered. The upper and lower ends are cased in gilt metal sleeves, the latter being ornamented with a sets of parallel linear grooves running round the circumference.
Provenance
Gift of the Hon Victor Agar-Robartes, later 8th Viscount Clifden, (See 1972 inventory), the elder brother of the Hon. Gerald Agar-Robartes, later 7th Viscount Clifden,who gave Lanhydrock to the National Trust in 1953 and continued to live there until his death in 1966.
Marks and inscriptions
(on blade) A. HAY/EDINBURGH
Makers and roles
A. Hay, maker