French M1874 Gras Bayonet by St. Etienne, 1878
Straight T-profile blade, blued hilt with hooked quillon, riveted wood grips, brass pommel, blued steel scabbard.
The spine of the blade is marked in cursive script ‘Mre d'Armes de St. Etienne Juillet 1878’, indicating it was made at the state arms manufacturer (Manufacture d'armes) at Saint-Étienne in July 1878. The ricasso of the blade is stamped with two poincon inspection stamps.
The hilt is stamped on one side with the serial number ‘C 1841’ and further poincons. It is stamped on the top side next to the blade with several small stamps reading ‘A’, ‘75’ and ‘8’. The scabbard is stamped on the frog loop band with inspection stamps and the identical serial number ‘C 1841’, indicating an original pair.
Each of the wood slab grips is stamped between the rivets with a roughly acorn-shaped mark (like two letter Ds back to back, one larger than the other). This may be an inspection stamp and their crisp appearance shows the wood has not been heavily handled or refinished.
