Marine Saber M. 1853/1870 From Rear-admiral Marie Jean Lucien Lacaze

SABRE de marine modèle 1853/1870 du Contre-Amiral Marie Jean Lucien Lacaze, with Corsican historical souvenirs
France, 19th century
Steel, brass, leather
Total length: 84 ; Blade length Blade: 66 cm

Gilt bronze mounting; two-prong guard forming a shell. The latter is decorated with oak leaves, a marine anchor and cables lacing the branches. Long-tailed cap decorated with oak leaves and scallops. Joint arch with top eyelet. Quillon featuring a dolphin's head and an oak leaf. Brown horn handle with twelve grooves.
Blade with slight arrow, gutters and hollow sides, marked on the back Manuf. Klingenthal, Coulaux et Cie. Two control marks.
Scabbard with three-trimmed backstitching; clevis with rim near the mouthpiece, with bélière ring, button and étalinguée navy anchor; beaded median strap; water-leaf engraved bolster and vannet-shell dart.
This saber is equipped with its belt with gold buckle decorated with an étalinguée navy anchor; HE hallmark and maker's mark: Gauthier fils à Toulon; and its complete lines.
Good condition overall; trace of corrosion on the blade.

Enclosed are souvenirs, a calendar with port-of-call information and two original photographs:

The first (11.1 x 8.6 cm) is a full-length portrait of Rear-Admiral Marie Jean Lucien Lacaze on the Voltaire - a battleship built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in La Seyne sur mer, admitted to active service in May 1911. 
Lucien Lacaze wears a service uniform model 1891/1902, the Rear Admiral's coat with two stars on the lower sleeves, and a cap.
The photograph is signed, dated and annotated in his hand at top right with a note to Dr. Santelli: "Au cher Docteur Santelli, très affectueusement. L. Lacaze, June 6, 1919". 

Lucien Lacaze, Grand-Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, Vice-Admiral and Academician, born in 1860 and died in 1955, was Chief of the Military Cabinet of the Minister of the Navy and Colonies, Commander of the Second Line Division of the First Line Squadron (battleships), Commander of the Navy in Marseille, Minister of the Navy from 1915 to 1917, Commander-in-Chief and Prefect of the Fifth Maritime District in Toulon and Vice-President of the Conseil Supérieur de la Marine. 

The second (19.5 x 12 cm) is a medallion bust portrait of Dr. Santelli, a naval physician, taken by Alfred Fernbach in Toulon - the name and place are mentioned in the bottom right-hand corner of the cardboard on which the photograph is mounted. 
Under the medallion, a letter from the Doctor to Marie Caroline Morrazzani: "To my dear niece and goddaughter Marie Caroline Morazzani, With fond memories, Toulon, January 1921, P. Santelli".

Born in 1860 and died in 1929, Pierre François Antoine Martin Santelli joined the navy in 1883, becoming Medical Officer on the battleship Carnot in 1897. Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1900, he was promoted to Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1920. 

Provenance : 
Morazzani family, Corte, Corsica. 

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON

Ref. LP2625