Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous piece of craftsmanship, one that would have required a great deal of capital to have manufactured during the period, a high-end plug bayonet of English or French manufacture. This example has a lovely gilt finish on the crossguard, pommel, and scabbard fittings which has been meticulously preserved over the past 340+ years. This is the highest quality plug bayonet we have ever offered.

The 13⅛” blade retains its shape very well, with some evidence of past oxidation having been carefully cleaned away. The blade actually starts on one end 2” from the ricasso, with a false edge on the last 3¾”. The lovely gilt crossguard is well-retained with the majority of its gilt finish being retained, although it is a small bit loose. The horn grip has a few small spots of loss, with some discoloration and cracking near the top. The gilt pommel is retained just as well with its gilt retained besides a spot at the very tip, and it is very tight. The overall length is 18⅞”.

The 13¾” scabbard is an extraordinary example, due both to its lovely sharkskin wrap and to its green color, which could only be attained during the period by dying with arsenic. The sharkskin has held up tremendously well, but has shrunk a bit as will happen with age regardless of the level of care, and the wrap has split at one side, although this doesn’t detract from the displayability. The original gilt fittings are still fully intact, and the throat retains its original suspension ring. A truly gorgeous and high end example of the period.

The first recorded instance of a bayonet proper is found in the Chinese military treatise, Binglu published in 1606. It was in the form of the Son-and-mother gun, a breech-loading musket that was issued with a roughly 57.6 cm (22.7 in) long plug bayonet, giving it an overall length of 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) with the bayonet attached. It was labeled as a "gun-blade" with it being described as a "short sword that can be inserted into the barrel and secured by twisting it slightly" that it is to be used "when the battle have depleted both gunpowder and bullets as well as fighting against bandits, when forces are closing into melee or encountering an ambush" and if one "cannot load the gun within the time it takes to cover two bu (3.2 meters) of ground they are to attach the bayonet and hold it like a spear".

Early bayonets were of the "plug" type, where the bayonet was fitted directly into the barrel of the musket. This allowed light infantry to be converted to heavy infantry and hold off cavalry charges. The bayonet had a round handle that slid directly into the musket barrel. This naturally prevented the gun from being fired. The first known mention of the use of bayonets in European warfare was in the memoirs of Jacques de Chastenet, Vicomte de Puységur. He described the French using crude 1-foot (0.30 m) plug bayonets during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). However, it was not until 1671 that General Jean Martinet standardized and issued plug bayonets to the French regiment of fusiliers then raised. They were issued to part of an English dragoon regiment raised in 1672, and to the Royal Fusiliers when raised in 1685.

This is one of the earliest bayonets we have ever offered, and by far one of the highest quality examples. Comes ready for further research and display.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 13⅛"
Overall Length: 18⅞"
Scabbard Length: 13¾”