Germany, Weimar Republic. A Forestry Official’s Cutlass, by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie, c. 1930

(Hirschfänger für einen Förster). An extremely well-preserved Forestry official’s cutlass, measuring 47 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 33 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade which retains factory-original sharpening to both the tip and lower edge. It bears double-sided acid-etched imagery executed in exceptional detail, and consists of scenes of armed hunters pursuing stags and wild boars amid forest settings. The obverse ricasso is maker marked with the classic knight’s helmet logo of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie, Solingen. It sits securely within a multi-piece hilt, with an intact blackened leather buffer pad covering the seam. The hilt consists of a gilded brass crossguard (with a quillon presenting as a stag’s hoof) featuring a ribbed clamshell, with a hand guard that meets a gilded brass backstrap connecting to the crossguard. Two pieces of polished staghorn compose the handle grip, each fastened with three brass acorns (which cap the handle rivets). Accompanying the cutlass is its original scabbard, constructed of a boiled and blackened leather shaft with gilded brass fittings riveted to both the tip and throat. The latter features both a protruding acorn stud for the accommodation of a frog, as well as a functional catch within the throat to firmly hold the cutlass in place during storage. Demonstrating no notable damage or wear, this high-quality Forestry official’s cutlass, manufactured c. 1930 but in use throughout the late Weimar and early-Third Reich periods, remains in an extremely fine condition.