This is the off-duty sabre of the Prussian cavalry officers, carried on parade occasions and quite possibly in the field in the early days of WW1. The official fighting sword was the model 1852 with a half-basket guard, with an EPNS finish. The magnificent bronze hilt would originally have had a gilt finish.

There is a single letter in Gothic script on the metal covering the stem of the knot, probably an 'L', which would be for one of the minor Saxon dukedoms of this period. This extremely rare sword knot is, unfortunately, in rather poor shape commensurate with its age, but its original quality is still apparent.