Watch IMA's Alex evaluate this sword on History Channel's Pawn Stars:

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is the most artistically and historically significant Imperial Russian sword to be offered in America since the September 1945 Gimbels sale of three shashka from the Imperial Collection at Tsarskoe Selo.  The Odoevsky saber is similar to the magnificent swords awarded to British sailors and soldiers for distinguished actions during the Napoleonic Wars by the Patriotic Fund of Lloyds, only even more impressive.

Imperial Russian swords and French 1st Empire swords of the Napoleonic period are exceptionally rare. Those that do survive are often of standard design and rarely attributable to specific individuals, much less those that fought in some of the most infamous battles of Napoleonic Wars in the East. This sword is of some of the finest Russian workmanship, custom ordered and designed in the French inspired Empire Style, popular in Imperial Russia at the turn of the 18th century and into the mid-19th century.

The sword is of the finest quality workmanship in the hussar style. It is overall 41” in the scabbard with a blade 33” from the crossguard to the tip, weight 6.1lbs.  The grip is checkered ebony wood mounted in gilt ormolu mounts retaining almost all of their original fire gilding. The grip is missing one of the thin gilded grip straps. This style of craftsmanship with gilt bronze fittings makes this a heavy sword, certainly originally for presentation and well balanced as a result when wielded in hand. The grip pommel is further accentuated with chiseled and carved floral leaf designs. The crossguard is formed as two naturalistic flower heads out of which emerges the d-guard with an eagle at the terminus and on the other side with a fluted rounded quillon. The crossguard langlets are triangular in shape, fitting perfectly into the scabbard and have beautifully carved Medusa heads on both sides, crowned with a martial stand above the heads, resembling an antiquated water flask of the type carried by nomadic warriors (an allusion to the hussar that would have been presented with this sword).

The use of floral decoration was typical of Empire Style embellishment and found on other Imperial Russian presentation swords of the period, see below images of a gold mounted presentation sword to General Rozena, fitted with an Ottoman Turkish blade of an earlier period.

The scabbard is of similar gilded ormolu design, with fire gilding remaining in excellent condition, and with six windows through which the timber covered black leather can be seen. This form of scabbard design was popular for a long period of time, roughly the period 1730-1830, and corresponds almost always to hussars or cavalry swords.  The designs allows the structural integrity of the scabbard to remain while lessening the weight of the sword.  This design in fact mirrors the more common Russian issued hussar swords of the same period which either in iron or brass have the same style frame with leather viewed in between windows.  
 
In between the scabbard of the Prince Odoevsky sword there are three windows with finely carved and gilded martial stands, crowned with lionheads at the top.  The allusions in the design follows classic Empire Style design with Roman and Greek warrior armor, martial standards, swords, spears, and shields, arrayed in a classic stand of arms.

The scabbard is decorated on one side, as befits a sword that would have been worn and presented from one primary viewing side.  The other side is undecorated except for a finely engraved inscription, translated to “Year 1810 Podporuchik Prince I. I. Odoevsky.”

The blade is a fine Persian watered steel or wootz blade, and can be dated to the year 1800/1801 (the Islamic calendar does not correspond directly with the Gregorian calendar so years can cross two years), and is signed by the maker “Work of Assadillah Esfahani 1215 (1800-1801)”. The blade is finely mounted with an internal designed customized tang which has a screw end and onto which the pommel secures the entire handle, indicating that blade and mounts were made for each other.

That an Imperial Russian presentation sword, or for that matter a European presentation sword, is mounted with a Persian, or Islamic blade, is not only not uncommon but was commonly done on the finest European presentation swords. Imperial Russia had a long history of mounting Islamic blades, most often Ottoman or Persian, in customized mounts, and that this was a Persian blade is a testament to the continued respect Russian nobles and royalty had for Islamic blades.  Likewise, Islamic blades were found mounted in French Napoleonic swords of the same period (see example sold in December 2016 from our collection), where before the period beginning in 1790, that was not the case. This was a result of the Battle for Egypt where Napoleon brought back the vogue of carrying fine curved scimitars, arming his Mamluke bodyguard with curved sabres mounted with fine Islamic blades, and curved Mamluke daggers made at the Imperial Manufactory in Versaille.

Overall, the design of the sword displays the finest quality gilded and carved ormulu workmanship, most reminiscent of the ormula furnishings of the Hermitage and other Imperial Russian palaces of the period 1780-1840.  The overall design is a mixture of classic European forms inspired by the Empire Style but mounted with an Islamic blade as would have been typical of the period for fine battle and presentation swords.  The sword displays little wear as would be befit a protected and cherished presentation sword, but does display wear at the drag of the chape exactly where it would have rested on the ground where worn and where the gilding has worn off.

Service Record of Prince Ivan Ivanovich Odoevsky (1792-1814)
Without the inscription, this sword would be considered an exceptional presentation sword and relic of the Napoleonic Wars, without a clear attribution to Imperial Russia and some of the most important battles of the later Napoleonic Wars.  However the inscription, which translates to Year 1810 Podporuchik Prince I. I. Odoevsky makes this an exceptionally interesting sword and one of the few in private hands we are aware of which belonged to Russian royalty killed in battle during the Napoleonic Wars.

To confirm the identity of the owner and his battle record we corresponded with the definitive source of information on Imperial Russian uniforms and history of the Napoleonic period, the Deputy Director of the War of 1812 Museum in Moscow, Sergey Lvov.  The Museum keep some of the archives and have many artifacts from the Napoleonic Wars, mainly Russian, French and other nationalities.  They also publish a list of known officers who served in the War of 1812, which would have been the period just after this sword would have been presented and worn.  On their rolls published online (taken from the official rolls of Imperial Russian officers) appear two Prince I. I. Odoevsky, one of whom was too young to have been presented with this sword in 1810 as his rank was substantially lower than the other Prince I. I. Odoevsky (interestingly, these two were likely related though not through direct familial relations, but more likely as third or fourth cousins).  The War of 1812 Museum confirmed that this sword would have belonged to Prince I. I. Odoevsky who was killed January 29, 1814 at the Battle of Brienne, France.  His portrait is shown below where his date of death is recorded.

While a young man, only 22 at the time of his death and promoted to a Captain posthumously, he had already been enrolled in the Imperial Russian army since 1808 according to the archival record, the entirety of which is listed below as provided by the War of 1812 Museum (in the original Russian and also translated beneath each entry).

26.05.1808 Согласно Высочайшим приказам о чинах военных он из колонновожатых Свиты Е.И.В. по квартирмейстерской части произведен в под-поручики.
May 26, 1808 – Entered into the official rolls

22.10.1809 назначен адъютантом генерал-фельдмаршала графа Гудовича.
October 22, 1809 Appointed adjutant to General- Fieldmarshall Gudovich.

27.02.1812 переведен в Павлоградский гусарский полк с переименованием в поручики (у офицеров гусар и служивших в квартирмейстерской части была разница в один чин, т.е. поручик у гусар равен подпоручику у квартирмейстеров).      
February 02, 1812 – Transferred to the Pavlogradskii Hussars Regiment as a Poruchik (Lieutenant)- Officers who served in the quartermaster had a difference of one step in rank, I.E. A hussars lieutenant (poruchik) was equivalent to a quartermasters regiment second lieutenant (podporuchik).

15.07. 1812 был представлен к ор. Св.Анны 3-й степени за храбрось проявленную в сражении при Кобрине.
July 15, 1812 – Presented with the Order of Anna Third Class for bravery at the Battle of Kobrin.

2.12.1812 за отличие в сражении произведен в штабс-ротмистры.  Одоевский произведен в штабс-ротмистры за отличие в сражении при Городечне 31 июля 1812 г.
December 02, 1812 – For bravery in battle promoted to Staff-Captain.  Odoevsky promoted to Staff-Captain for bravery in battle at Gorodechniy July 31, 1812.

30.01.1813 назначен адъютантом генерала от кавалерии Тормасова.
January 30, 1813 – Appointed adjutant to cavalry General Tormasov.

Nota Bene- There is no mention of Odoevsky in the official rolls in between January 1813 and April 1814, which was already three months after his death.  His last posting with General Tormasov would have ended in late in 1813 when General Tormasov retired after which he would have either gone back to his regiment or moved to another regiment closer to the front. Deputy Director Lvov confirmed that at this time officers moved around very often between regiments, especially those of such long standing service as his and who had been battle hardened through multiple encounters.  

16.04.1814 за отличие в сражении 1813 года произведен в ротмистры.  Произведен в ротмистры за отличие в сражении под Дрезденом в августе 1813 г.
April 16, 1814 - For bravery in battle in 1813 promoted to Captain.  Promoted to Captain for bravery in battle at the Battle of Dresden August 1813.

10.08.1814 исключен из списков убитым в сражении.
August 10, 1814 - Stricken from rolls as killed in battle.

It is important to note that the official record were often incomplete and dates could be recorded incorrectly and records were lost in the heat of battle or through later destruction, as Imperial Russian records were often destroyed during the Communist period.  The War of 1812 Museum notes that officers would not be stricken from the lists as killed in battle many months and in some cases years after their death, and that posthumous promotions, awards, and even regimental transfers were common even after officers were killed.  As a result, that this much of the record does remain is itself a miracle and allows us to put together a portrait of Prince Odoevsky, who though young, distinguished himself in battle and ultimately was killed at the Battle of Brienne, the last battle that Napoleon was considered to have won, in the town where he studied at the Brienne Military School.  The official record is itself filled in with some fascinating details of his life through the source of his sister Varvara Lansky (nee Varvara Ivanovich Odoevsky) and the regimental history of the Pavlograd Hussars Regiment.

Biography of Prince Odoevsky
Prince Odoevsky was born in 1792 at the historic Odoevsky estate in Lukino, northeast of Moscow near Sverdlovsk, which still stands today.  As a member of the Imperial landed gentry he was given the title prince, which he shared with his father, also Prince Ivan Ivanovich Odoevsky (April 5, 1742- December 11, 1806) who retired in the period 1802-1803 as a Lieutenant-General in charge of Ingermanland Dragoon Regiment.  The younger Prince Odoevsky had one younger sister, Varvara Ivanovna Odoevsky (1794-1845).  

Following the death of their father in 1806 and mother in 1807, both children were placed under the guardianship of their uncle’s daughter, Varvara Alexandrovicha Lansky (who herself was born an Odoevsky to the senior Prince I.I. Odoevsky’s brother Alexander Ivanovich Odoevsky).  V.A. Lansky married Dmitry Sergeyevich Lansky, who is noted as the guardian of both Odoevsky children.  In 1808 the young Prince I. I. Odoevsky entered as a 16 year old into the Imperial Russian Army as 2nd Lieutenant, or podporuchik as noted in the inscription on the sword.  As he only was promoted to Lieutenant in February 1812, the date of 1810 in the inscription corresponds with him as a second lieutenant or podporuchik.  That he would have been presented with this magnificent presentation sword when he was 18 is in keeping with him having been discharged from the guardianship of the Lansky’s. One can only speculate whether this was a gift to him from his guardian or if this was his father’s sword, presented to him as a fully-fledged adult, and possibly presented to him later on in his own career.

In 1812 following his transfer to the Pavlogradskii Hussars Regiment he took part in the Battle of Kobrin where he received an Order of Anna Third Class.  This is referenced directly in the History of Pavlogradskii Hussars Regiment, titled “Pavlogradtsy in 1812,” referencing those Pavlograd Hussars that served in the War of 1812 and published in 1912 as a centennial regimental history. The direct entry is below, with the direct reference to Odoevsky as having been particularly outstanding at the Battle of Kobrin and having been awarded the Order of Anna Third Class.

Later references to him are sparse outside of the archival record other than his promotion to a captain as a result of bravery at the Battle of Dresden, where he served with the Pavlograd Hussars under the Russian Corps under General Voronsov, Cavalry Division commanded by Orurk in the Schevalov brigade.

His death was not only recorded in handwriting on the miniature portrait (see page 7) but also in a record of Imperial Russian nobility published in 1840 where it notes that in the Odoevsky family two princes were killed, Prince I. I. Odoevsky and Prince Sergei Petrovich Odoevsky who was killed at the Battle of Dresden in 1813 (where Prince I. I. Odoevsky also distinguished himself in battle).

The official record then does not mention Prince I. I. Odoevsky and his death at the Battle of Brienne nor which regiment he served in at the time.  However, it is likely that having been in the Pavlograd Hussars he could have transferred to the Belarussian Hussars Regiment which was at the Battle of Brienne and commanded by Sergei Nicholayevich Lansky, the nephew of Prince Odoevsky’s guardian Dmitri Sergeivich Lansky and a heralded Lieutenant General who himself was killed just one month after the Battle of Brienne in a rear guard action at the Battle of Craonne.  

However, Prince Odoevsky’s life continues in a historical significant way through his sister, Varvara Ivanovna Odoevsky, who married Sergei Lansky who became a well-known Russian political figure, a senator in the Duma.  

Her letters and the correspondence from her friend and niece, Maria Apollonovna Volkova, during the War of 1812 became famous, and are still in publication today as one of the finest descriptions of life in Moscow during Napoleon’s siege and the picaresque description of life during the war.  In three letters Prince Odoevsky is referenced, with the majority a reference to his death in January.

 “1814. Moscow. January 4. Congratulations with receiving good news from your brother and I share your joy. I heard from my sources that he is doing very well in the Army and I am happy to share this news with you.”

 “April 16, 1814. After receiving a letter from your husband with the horrible news, I immediately bought and sent you 10 yards of black camlet velvet.”

”April 20, 1814. I am tremendously thankful to you for those few words that you found your strength to write to me. I know how hard for you to write in time of your sorrow.”

Unfortunately the letters from Varvara Lansky do not survive but the responses make clear that she was in mourning following his death with the receipt of black velvet for mourning dress.

It is also known that those letters were provided to Leo Tolstoy who based his descriptions of life in Moscow in part on her letters, and who himself notes that all of the people in War and Peace, his famous novel of life in Moscow during the War of 1812 and the actions of officers of various hussars regiments, were based directly on real people.  War and Peace not only features the hussar regiments prominently as the centerpiece of the story, but the Pavlograd Hussars where Prince Odoevsky served from 1812 through 1814 are one of the primary regiments which Tolstoy uses to illustrate the bravery and derring-do of the young royal officers.

While it is speculation to say that any of the characters are directly based on Prince I. I. Odoevsky the record is clear and further adds to the historical significance of this sword.  Prince Odoevsky’s death at the Battle of Brienne, one of the several battles the combined Prussian and Russian forces fought on their way to Paris is itself an important battle of note as the last battle Napoleon is considered to have won.


Battle of Brienne
The first battle of the Campaign for France came at Bonaparte's old stomping Brienne, where he went to school.  His first target was the spread-out force of some 25,000 Prussians under Field Marshal Blucher.

To battle his old adversary, Bonaparte had 30,000 troops, but most of these were just out of the recruiting camps and had no wartime experience.  The French emperor began the clash by pinning the enemy down while he organised a flanking attack.

Marshal Grouchy's cavalry and horse artillery kept the Prussians occupied as marshals Ney and Victor secured both the town of Brienne and its chateau.  During the heavy fighting Bonaparte was almost taken by Russian hussars, and both Blucher and his second-in-command Augustus Gneisenau only just managed to elude French troops.

Withdrawing to reorganise, Blucher left behind some 4000 casualties to France's 3000.  Of the 4000 lay Prince Odevsky.

Provenance
The sword was purchased from an estate sale held in upstate New York by Terri Peters Estate Sales.  Following purchase, we were told that the widow who consigned the sword had the sword in her husband’s family, who generations previously had been the owners of the Stone House in Cape Vincent, New York, but she wished to remain otherwise anonymous.  

The history of upstate New York is interesting specifically for the many links to post-Napoleonic French emigres who fled the Bourbon Restoration to the United States and continued to scheme for years following the end of the Napoleonic Wars to re-seat Napoleon in power. One of those emigres, Vincent LeRay built the Stone House in Cape Vincent in 1815 and resided in it until 1837.   He also built another house, the Cup and Saucer house to house the many Napoleonic relics that the emigres brought with them and to serve as a home for Napoleon in the event he could escape St. Helena.  

In the 1838, the Cup and Saucer House and the Stone House were purchased by the Peugnet Brothers, including Hyacinthe Peugnet (1794-1865), Louis-Desiré Peugnet (1797- 1877), and Theophile Peugnet.  Both Louis and Hyacinthe, were veterans of Napoleon’s campaigns in Germany and France in 1813-1814. They served as junior officers at Waterloo, where Louis was wounded.  Louis Peugnet was a captain in the Napoleon’s body guard, an officer of the Garde de Corps and was awarded the Legion d’Honneur.  Following Napoleon’s defeat, both Louis and Hyacinthe served in the Royal Army, but also joined the ranks of the Carbonari revolutionary organization.

In 1820, Louis was part of a plot to incite the garrison of Belfort to mutiny. The conspiracy was exposed and they both fled to America where they settled in Cape Vincent as part of the thriving French emigre community.   They prospered in business and education and eventually opened the “Classical, Commercial, and Mathematical School” in Greenwich Village, New York City, which had a finishing school for young women and a ‘college preparatory’ curriculum for young men and served as the primary school education for many West Point applicants including future Civil War generals from both the Union and the Confederacy such as Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Henry Heth, Rufus King, and William Henry Fitzhugh “Rooney” Lee.

The relics of the Peugnet family still exist and some of them are housed in the Missouri Historical Museum, where Armand Peugnet, son of Louis moved in the late 19th C. In addition the Peugnet papers are housed there as well and bear further research on the relics of the family possessed.

The provenance to the historical owners of the Stone House as the Peugnet Brothers, and specifically Louis Peugnet, who as a captain in the Imperial Garde de Corps would have served at the Battle of Brienne, serves as the most likely route that this important Napoleonic relic found its way to the United States and kept in the largest French Napoleonic emigre community in the U.S. Other interesting clues as to the possible origin of the sword and whether it may have even belonged to Napoleon exist in an old newspaper story referencing the fire which burned down the Cup and Saucer house in 1864.  That clipping is reproduced below and notes that during the fire which consumed the home many articles were stolen from the house in addition those which were consumed by fire, and one of those was a sword reputedly carried by Napoleon.

The cleaning process for the sword, removed a number of dark patches over the gilding and some of the images below before cleaning, show some dark patches which may be indicative of having been in a fire and cleaned unprofessionally over the years.  In addition, the process including reconditioning the leather which was non-existent in the frame but for some scraps in the inner parts of the scabbard.  All of this indicates that this sword may have been housed in the Cup and Saucer house in the early part of the 19th C. and one of the items that went missing in 1864, as recorded at the time, but which likely ended up with another member of the Peugnet family and passed down through the generations.  The layer of dirt over the gilt ended up preserving the gilding which now in its original and untouched condition shows how resilient fine ormolu gilding is when not subjected to constant wear and kept in good condition.