A SCIMITAR PRESENTED TO CAPTAIN JAMES KEARNEY WHITE R.N. ABO...

Estimate

£10,000 - £15,000

A SCIMITAR PRESENTED TO CAPTAIN JAMES KEARNEY WHITE R.N. ABOARD H.M.S. NORTHUMBERLAND BY NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, ST. HELENA, 1815

the 31in. curved steel flat blade with faint etching, brass quillon guards with cast and engraved foliate decoration, shaped polished stone grip with tassel hole to end, contained in brass mounted leather scabbard with medallion facings by suspension loops, the top locket engraved From Napoleon Buonaparte / To Captn. James Kearney White / St. Helena, October 1815. / H.M.S. Northumberland -- 36in. (91.5cm.) overall

James Kearney White (1782-1828) and thence by descent.

James Kearney White (1782-1828) enjoyed a lively career in the Napoleonic Wars during which he was awarded a £50 Lloyds sword for an heroic action capturing the Dutch brig-corvette Atalante and, as a 'lucky' prize captain, had made his crew wealthy - and happy enough - to present him with the magnificent silver-mounted sword represented by lot 177 whilst he was in command of the gun brig Peruvian. This was just before the Battle of Waterloo and it was whilst Peruvian happened to be lying becalmed at Ostend when Major the Hon. Henry Percy (1785-1825), the only one of Wellington’s aides to have survived the carnage at Waterloo unscathed, arrived with the news of the great victory, White took drastic action: With no wind in the offing, he immediately ordered Peruvian’s gig lowered and, after selecting four of his strongest crew, the six men, including both White and Percy who did their share at the oars, rowed the sixty-four across the Channel to Broadstairs where the two officers hired a fast post-chaise-and-four and raced to London bearing the momentous news of Napoleon’s defeat. Napoleon famously handed himself over to Captain Maitland aboard the Bellerophon where he remained for two weeks from the 26th July whilst the British Government decided his fate. Whilst there, Admiral Lord Keith (C-in-C North Sea) had such an unpleasant interview with Napoleon that an eyewitness recorded it was judged proper to deprive the refugees of their arms. A good many swords, and several brace of pistols..were brought down to the gun-room, where they remained for some hours*. Napoleon was transferred to Northumberland and, when she sailed for St. Helena, Peruvian was one of her escorts and was despatched to Guernsey to pick up a supply of wine for Napoleon’s consumption in exile - a very personal service rewarded by the presentation of this sword. It seems that White and Napoleon got to know and respect each other as latterly White was able to report on the Emperor's health when he was returning on a routine trip a few years later. White's active years seem to have worn him out and his health declined sharply enough in 1828 to have his will drawn up. Dictated in the third person, he left clear instructions for all his swords, including this one: ...I give to Arthur White now under my command The Mameluke Sabre said to belong to Napoleon Bonaparte... and it's presumed his nephew, Arthur, had the top locket engraved as he must have heard the story of his uncle's encounter with Napoleon many times.

* George Home: Memoirs of an Aristocrat, and Reminiscences of the Emperor Napoleon, by a Midshipman of the Bellerophon. London, Whittaker & Co., and Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh, 1838.

Blade has small patches of corrosion but remains sharp, close examination shows the top third was once finely etched but this is now almost invisible.; the scabbard is scuffed and the top section now loose, but overall in fair condition.