A late 17th Century English household cavalry officer's sword

A late 17th Century English household cavalry officer's sword, believed to be attributable to the 2nd Troop of Life Guards: double edged blade 36 in., broad central fullers running almost to the point; 'Walloon' type cast brass hilt with double shell guards, faceted knuckle bow, large spherical pommel, brass wire bound grip with turks head knots at the top and bottom; both sides of each guard and the pommel adorned in relief with a crowned leaf mask or 'Green Man' composed of oak leaves and with pendant acorn, flanked by a lion and a unicorn and supported by winged and robed figures; offered with a quantity of research.

The troops of Horse Guards formed part of the Army of the restored Stuart King Charles II. The 2nd, or Queen's Troop, replaced the Duke of York's Troop as 2nd in seniority in 1670, when upon the Death of the Duke of Albermarle it came under the patronage of the Queen. The Horse Guards came to be designated The Life Guards, which title is generally used irrespective of the period referred to. The Lion and Unicorn are the supporters of the Royal Arms, which is the badge of the Life Guards1. The figures on the hilt are much like the angels which appear to this day on the trumpet banners of the Life Guards. These appear, furthermore, to have belonged particularly to the 2nd Troop in the 17th Century, when they bore "The King's Cypher....sustained by two angels of silver, that on the right having a sword in his hand and that on the left a Palm branch"2. These figures also appeared on the standard and guidon (1685), and the drum banner (1693) of the 2nd Troop3.

The crowned face at the centre is of uncertain significance, though the oak and acorn motifs may be a reference to the Boscobel Oak, in which the future Charles II was forced to hide with Captain William Careless (or Carlis) when fleeing from the forces of Oliver Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. For his loyalty, Careless was later granted arms involving an oak tree, and the oak became an important symbol of royalism in the years following the Restoration. Charles II proposed to form the Order of the Royal Oak, to which he would admit those who had helped him in his flight and exile. The plan was set aside, but not before a list of candidates had been created. Careless himself fought as a cavalry commander at Worcester, though latterly he served as an infantry officer while in exile with Charles.

The attribution to the Life Guards is further supported by examples cited by Charles Martyn4, with identical decoration, one having been exhibited in 1971 at the Household Cavalry Museum and titled 'Sword of a Private Gentleman of the Lifeguard'. A further example is illustrated in Martyn's book, and he suggests that the figures represent an angel and a devil - emblematic of his Royalists deliverers and the Parliamentarians respectively. He furthermore associates oak and acorns on swords with the Royalist antecedents of the post restoration cavalry regiments.

A sword with nearly identical decoration to the pommel is held by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.

References:

1: H.M. Chichester & G. Burges-Short, 'The Records and Badges of Every Regiment and Corps in the British Army'

2 & 3: C.C.P. Lawson, 'Uniform of the British Army', Vol 1, page 151, and pages 117 and 153.