Skip to main content
Advanced Search
D2012-CMD. Hanger
British "dog's head" infantry hanger
D2012-CMD. Hanger

British "dog's head" infantry hanger

Dateca.1750-1770
OriginEngland, Birmingham (probably)
MediumSteel, iron & brass
DimensionsHilt: 5 7/16" Blade: 26 7/16" x 1 1/8" Overall: 31 3/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1972-156
DescriptionHilt; Cast brass, with dog's head pommel integral with simulated cord-bound grip (cast in two halves & soldered together). The counterguard has a raised edge, a single outboard branch and prominent corners where it narrows into the knucklebow.

Blade; slightly curved and single edged, with a narrow fuller running down its spine for 19 3/4".
Label TextEnglish swords first appeared with brass "dog's head" pommels in the middle part of the 17th century, and this particular form evolved by the late 1680s. Versions were still extremely popular in the British Army during the middle quarters of the 18th century.

Swords identical to this example are known carrying markings for many of the notorious red-coated units which fought in North America during the French & Indian and Revolutionary Wars. One famous example, marked to the British 10th Regiment, now in the collection of the Concord Historical Society, has a provenance traceable to the day it was carried into battle on April 19, 1775. Additionally, parts of similar swords have been recovered from Revolutionary War campsites in the Hudson Valley, providing further evidence that dog-headed swords were amongst the most popular infantry arms of the period.
Provenanceex. George C. Neumann collection
Exhibition(s)