Royal Arms Manufactory at Torre Annunziata | Presentation Saber with Scabbard | Italian, Naples

Title: Presentation Saber with Scabbard

Manufactory: Royal Arms Manufactory at Torre Annunziata (Italian, Naples, established 1757)

Date: ca. 1806–10

Geography: Naples

Culture: Italian, Naples

Medium: Steel, copper alloy, wood, gold, mother-of-pearl, coral

Dimensions: L. 37 in. (94 cm); Wt. 3 lb. 9.4 oz. (1627 g); L. of saber 36 5/8 in. (93 cm); L. of blade 30 3/4 in. (78.2 cm); W. of saber 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm); Wt. of saber 1 lb. 10 oz. (737 g); L. of scabbard 31 6/8 in. (80.6 cm); W. of scabbard 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); Wt. of scabbard 1 lb. 15 oz. (890 g)

Classification: Swords

Credit Line: Russell Barnett Aitken and Irene Roosevelt Aitken Collection, Promised Gift of Irene Roosevelt Aitken, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary

Accession Number: L.2020.12.6a, b

Inscription: On the outer mother-of-peark plaque on the grip, a monogram in script: JN (framed with gold and faceted steel beads and surmounted by a gold royal crown studded with steel beads); engraved on the outer face of the blade: Mra Rle di Napoli (Manufattura Reale di Napoli); engraved on the back edge of the locket: Mra Rle di Napoli.

Russell B. Aitken, New York (by 1978–d. 2002; by inheritance to Irene Roosevelt Aitken); Irene Roosevelt Aitken, New York (since 2002).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Arts Under Napoleon," April 6–July 30, 1978, no. 173 (lent by Russell Barnett Aitken).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Emperors, Artists & Inventors: Transformative Gifts of Fine Arms and Armor," December 21, 2020–February 21, 2022.

Draper, James David, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Arts Under Napoleon: An Exhibition of the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts with Loans from the Audrey B. Love Foundation and other New York Collections, April 6–July 30, 1978. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1978. no. 173, fig. 36.

Bantz, Jennifer, Kayla Elam, Anne Blood Mann, and Briana Parker, eds. Gifts of Art: The Met's 150h Anniversary. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. p. 181.