S-bar hilted sword. The hilt consists of a gilt, pierced, half-basket guard bearing at the front, the cypher 'G R' surmounted by a crown and in an oval space in the obverse side, a foul anchor. There is a flat, plain pommel and back-piece, a lightly striated ferrule at the top of the grip and a prominent tang button. A small ring for a sword knot is fitted at the top of the guard near the pommel. The grip is of chequered ivory.

The blade is a straight flat-back with a flamboyant edge and false edge, the latter 203mm long. A central fuller runs from the shoulder to within 64mm of the point and a similar fuller runs between it and the back until it meets the false edge. On the obverse is engraved a cluster of crosses, A x N x D x R x E x A, then another cluster of crosses. On the reverse there is a cluster of crosses, A x N x D x R x E x A, and then a cluster of crosses. Below is a cluster of crosses F x E x R x A x R x A, and a cluster of crosses. The scabbard is missing. In some respects, the guard resembles that of the general officer's and Grenadier sword of 1802 with additional bars mounted on the obverse.

The combination of the general's guard and foul anchor suggests that the sword belonged to a senior officer in the Marines. In all probability, this sword's blade began as a simple cut and thrust blade and had pieces filed or ground cut later on. The backmost fuller appears intermittently at the false edge and this supports that view. The blade is probably German and dates from the middle of the 18th century; the attribution to 'ANDREA FERARA' is spurious.