A Chinese Liuyedao sword with inlay- a military sabre dating to the Qing dynasty. This sword unusually has an elegantly decorated blade inlaid in the qianlong style with silver and gold. The decorations include scrollwork, rows of dragons along the bottom of the blade, seven celestial stars towards the tip, and panels of calligraphy on both sides at the forte. The blade is fullered with a single long wide fuller along the spine edge of the blade, another thin one, and then a series of four deep fullers broken with the decoration of a cloud at each interval. The brass guard is ovoid and deeply chiselled with dragon motifs on the upperside, more shallow foliate designs on the blade face.
The hilt with a grip wrapped with woven bound blueish cord with paperneath, a hole is visible at the top end to take a lanyard strap. A bulbous rounded pommel made of brass, chiselled with dragons and pierced entirely through at points in the design. The scabbard is original and has the mounts including chiselled chape, locket and two hanging bands matching en suite with the hilt mounts, the whole sheath is blackened with original patina, there is a small loss in the hanging band, and the fishskin covering is long missing presumably in contemporary use as the whole is patinated ensuite even over the small bits that still remain and can be seen in small areas.
A rare find for a military sword to have such a flamboyantly decorated blade, and one surviving in such good condition.
