Imperial Russia Model 1834 Artillery Tesack Sawback Sword, French war trophy from the Crimean War

A wonderfully historic item. First, as a rare collectors item, this Imperial Russian artillery sawback short sword is in a wonderful state of preservation with its original scabbard, and fully marked and stamped throughout on the blade and the scabbard fittings. What makes this sword especially unique is that on the crossguard is written Sebastopol 8 7bre 1855 dating it to the 8 Septembre 1855 (Sept being 7 in French). On this day the attack on the Imperial russian position at Malakov by the French was successful, though they failed at Little Redan and Bastion du Mat. From the diary of Timothy Gowing, Voice from the Ranks: a personal narrative of the Crimean Campaign (Nottingham: 1895) with regards to the fighting on the 8 September 1855: It was a common saying in camp that there was nothing too hot or too heavy for the Zouaves to walk off with; and where there was room for a rat, there was room for one of these nimble little gentlemen to get in. They proved themselves all, during the fighting, troublesome customers to the enemy; and now that the fight was over they distinguished themselves by pilfering everything they could lay hands upon. But they did not get all