This is an officer's plug bayonet from the early years of George I. In extremis, the weapon could be mounted in the barrel of a musket, but would have been carried perhaps more as a symbol of rank. The ivory hilt has GR below a crown all inlaid in silver piquet work.
The blade (just over 10.5" long) is almost certainly a cut down mortuary sword blade with a Solingen inscription and a maker's mark punched at the forte. It is iron-mounted with chiselled classical heads on each quillon and the pommel, which are typical of work found in the 1660s-80s. There is a rose engraved on the bulb of the hilt; this and the piquet work may well post date the production of the bayonet. The use of cut down sword blades to make dirks and plug bayonets was fairly common in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
There is a large age split in the ivory on each side; this is usually caused from the tang rusting and expanding, consequently cracking the hilt. Elements of the hilt have been a little overcleaned, particularly the iron collar of the guard, the collar at the pommel having a more natural patinated look. I suspect that the chiselled iron heads have been case hardened, hence the slightly blue-grey look typical of case-hardened iron, the collars being made of softer metal.
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[Edged Weapons : Bayonets : English : 18th Century]
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