124 - Army officer's sabre with portepee, “AWS” Alcoso Solingen, oak leaf hilt, 1940s

Army officer's sabre with portepee, “AWS” Alcoso Solingen, oak leaf hilt, 1940s Metal and textile, sabre with portepee for army officers, slightly curved bright blade with fuller on both sides, at the base of the blade maker's mark “AWS” with scales and lettering “Alcoso” over “SOLINGEN”, gold-coloured stirrup hilt with P-shaped knuckle bow, backstrap and pommel cap with engraved oak leaf scrolls, crossguard with scroll engraving and scrolled end, on the langet an engraved national eagle in a shield cartouche, black grip with grooves and wire binding, portepee with dark green strap with light stripes, slide, crown and silver-coloured acorn, without scabbard, L. 94 cm, blade length 82 cm. Sabres for army officers belong to the period between 1933 and 1945. The steelware factory Alexander Coppel in Solingen, founded in 1821, made sabres, bayonets and officers' daggers under the trade mark Alcoso and from 1935 also supplied SA service daggers under the RZM code M7/66. The early company mark combined the italic lettering “Alcoso” with the letters “A C S”, stylised scales and “SOLINGEN”; around 1940 the letter sequence “AWS” replaced “A C S”. The portepee, from the French porte-épée for sword carrier, was originally a loop wound around grip, knuckle bow and wrist to prevent the weapon from falling in combat, and later became an insignia of rank for officers and senior NCOs. It consists of strap, slide, stem, crown and tassel; in the Wehrmacht the portepees were silver and made in acorn form.