A smallsword of the 1855 model was an obligatory part of the ceremonial attire of a Russian civilian official. The right to wear a smallsword was granted to officials of ranks from 1 to 10, including members of the State Council. From 1904, almost every official of the empire received a civilian smallsword. The most common are single fuller nickel-plated blades made by the German companies E.& F. Horster, W. Clauberg, F.W. Holler and others, which often had etched patterns and cost relatively low.
The smallsword of a civilian official presented in the exhibition of the Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore consists of a long straight double-edged blade and a hilt with a knuckle-bow and a guard. The hilt of the sword consists of a grip and a guard. The solid bronze grip is engraved with woven spiral grooves and intertwined with twisted brass wire. The cast pommel is shaped like a Greek vase and decorated with relief floral patterns. At the bottom of the grip there is a thickening with a relief floral pattern. The guard has one protective D-shaped knuckle-bow and smoothly transitions into a cross-guard. The far end of the cross-guard is thickened and embossed. The guard features a cast semicircular carved shield with a relief image of a double-headed eagle in a half-wreath of laurel leaves. The eagle’s wings are raised, depicting schematic images of eight coats of arms. The rhombic blade is straight and two-edged; it is made of steel and nickel-plated. The left side of the ricasso features an inscription F.FICHTE / SOLINGEN — the mark of a supplier of products from German companies to the Russian market. The blade is decorated with etching: images of military fittings (a shield, a pike and a banner) are woven into floral and geometric compositions.
The majority of Russian smallswords were made by the Schaaf and Sons company and the Zlatoust Arms Factory. The scabbards of civilian swords were most often made of leather, less often — wood lined with leather. The metal part of the scabbard was made of gilded brass and consisted of a throat with a stud for fastening the sword to a belt and a chape. Smallswords were worn on a shoulder belt. They were removed in several cases: during the worship of locally venerated saints, at the entrance to the altar during wedding ceremonies, as well as at dances during balls and soirées. Smallswords were part of the uniform of civilian and court officials until 1917.
