Lot 815

19th C. Mexican Steel Cavalry Officer's Saber - Boker Solingen, Eagle & Serpent

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Lot 815
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19th C. Mexican Steel Cavalry Officer's Saber - Boker Solingen, Eagle & Serpent
19th C. Mexican Steel Cavalry Officer's Saber - Boker Solingen, Eagle & Serpent
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19th C. Mexican Steel Cavalry Officer's Saber - Boker Solingen, Eagle & Serpent

Estimate: $1,200 - $1,800

Starting Bid: $600

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
July 30, 2026 8:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Mexico, Republican and Porfirian military, ca. 1860–1890 CE. A cavalry officer's saber whose curved, single-edged blade carries acid-etched panoplies of arms, scrolling foliage, and the Mexican national eagle grasping its serpent. Forged in Solingen and stamped "Henry Boker Solingen" near the ricasso, the blade seats against a French-pattern pierced sheet-steel guard, its scroll openwork centered on an oval cartouche engraved with the eagle-and-snake-on-nopal, the arms of Mexico. The grip is bound in ray-skin shagreen and wrapped with twisted gilt wire; a leather buffer washer cushions blade against guard. All mounts, including the fitted scabbard, are steel throughout, marking this as a private-purchase service weapon rather than a parade piece. Officers armed themselves at their own expense, which explains such careful etching on an otherwise fighting-grade blade. Size of blade: 32" L x 1.25" W (81.3 cm L x 3.2 cm W); of sword: 38" L x 4.5" W (96.5 cm L x 11.4 cm W); with sheath: 41.5" L x 4.5" W (105.4 cm L x 11.4 cm W).

The house of Heinrich Boker, based in Solingen with a Mexico City branch established in 1865, dominated the edged-weapon trade to Mexico during the second half of the nineteenth century. This saber belongs to the historical window spanning the French Intervention, the restored Republic, and the early Porfiriato, when the Mexican officer corps dressed and armed itself on the French model while Solingen supplied the steel. The pierced, French-style guard rules out the earlier 1821-pattern group and places the sword within Boker's export peak from the 1860s onward. The eagle devouring a serpent atop a nopal cactus is the enduring emblem of the Mexican state, drawn from the Aztec founding legend of Tenochtitlan.

Provenance: private Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA collection, acquired in 2024 via descent; ex-private Louisiana, USA collection

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Item # 203313

  • Condition: Expected age wear with some softening of blade. Some loosening to gilt copper wires and leather. Otherwise, intact and excellent with light patina throughout.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $749 $25
$750 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $7,499 $250
$7,500 $14,999 $500
$15,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000