Staff officer's saber, Vendémiaire an XII type. Gilt brass mounting. Short-skirted cap decorated with a frieze of foliage and a flower. Guard with a widening columnar branch and upward sloping sides, decorated with foliage and a lion's head. Ebony handle carved with oblique grooves. Body knot with trophies of arms, palm-chiselled half-grooves, leonine quillon curved towards the tip. Curved, round-backed blade with counter-edge. Patinated iron scabbard with two wide bracelets, two rings and gilded brass bolt. A.B.E. (wear to gilding). Consulate-Ist Empire period.