EUROPE, XIXème siècle Officer's saber (composite). Modern Saxon-inspired brass hilt with one prong and one quillon, long-tailed cap and leaf-friezed ferrule. Polished bone spindle with gadroons. Antique, slightly arched, single-edged, flat-backed blade with two hollow sides and counter-edged tip, partially blued, engraved with gilded trophies and flowers. Heel signed "HANQUET Ainé à Liège". With an old brass scabbard with two bracelets and three rings (too long). Blade length: 70.8 cm - Total length: 87 cm. Wear, scratches and knocks from use; cracks and small chips on the spindle; corroded blade tip; saber slipping from the scabbard. In 1826, Nicolas-Martin HANQUET and two of his brothers founded "Martin HANQUET & Cie" in Liège, a manufacturer of firearms and bladed weapons. In 1829, he took over sole management of the company, which was renamed "HANQUET aîné". He seems to have remained in business until the late 1830s.