This highly unusual hirschfanger almost certainly fits in the shooting club or hunting weapon categorie. The grip is stag. The pommel cap is brass with one attachment loop. The crossguard is cast as all one unit. It features a ferrule that fits around the grip, a octagonal central portion, the forward attchment loop, and cruciform quillons. The blade is attached to the hilt with a nut on top of the pommel. The blade is one of a type that is found on hunting swords and plug bayonets. I have an Austrian plug bayonet with a very similar blade in my collection. The blade was probably made in Solingen and sold to fitters that made them into the final products. Unfortunately I could not get the blade engraving to show in the photos. On one side of the blade it features a sun with a face, a hunting dog beside a tree, and a flying bird. The other side features a stag and several decorative items. There is a small design on the back edge of the blade that is found on all these blades.
Dimensions are as follows: Overall length 698mm; Blade length 567.5; Blade width 30; Blade thickness 8; Handle length 130.5.
