Revolutionary  War Silver Hilted Sword

Rare early Irish silver hilt officer’s sword (ca. 1760), with a colichemarde blade, made by silversmith Joseph Cullen of Dublin and owned by General Ezekiel Cornell. He was born in 1732 in either Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He moved to Scituate, Rhode Island and served as (Representative) Representative from Scituate to the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1772 to 1775. In 1775, Cornell was appointed lieutenant colonel in Hitchcock’s Rhode Island Regiment and was present at the siege of Boston at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The unit was taken into the Continental Army in December 1776. Cornell was appointed deputy adjutant general on October 1, 1776, appointed brigadier general of his regiment in 1776, and served until March 16, 1780. Ezekiel Cornell died in Milford, Massachusetts on April 25, 1800. Early Georgian Irish silver is rare and considered the top tier of collecting.

Provenance:

Ezekiel Family, Milford, MA

Richard Littlefield, Jaffery, NH

Gordon Barlow, Swoope, Virginia