The Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Goncharov houses a wonderful example of a Russian award weapon — a smallsword, custom-made at the Zlatoust plant in 1834.
The bronze hilt of the smallsword is gilded. The grip is entwined with twisted wire and equipped with a knuckle-bow that connects the base of the hilt with the pommel. Two guards are attached to the base of the hilt: the left one features a carved inscription “For bravery”. The sword has been preserved only partially: the insignia of the Order of St. Anne, attached to the guard, has been lost. The blued blade at the top is covered with gilded engraving and etching. From the middle to the end of the tip, the blade is decorated with an etched silver-plated pattern in the form of laurel leaves. The left side features a medallion with an etched and gilded double-headed eagle, and below it is a display of armaments.
The sword belonged to Pyotr Ivanovich Yurlov (1793–1869), a nobleman from Simbirsk. In 1809, he joined the military as a junior praporshchik (non-comissioned officer) in the Rylsky infantry regiment. He participated in the battles of Smolensk, Borodino and Paris. He received the Orders of St. Anna, 4th class and St. Vladimir, 4th class. He retired with the rank of staff captain in 1816. After his retirement, Pyotr Yurlov lived for some time in the family estate in Chertanovka, and after the death of his father, he inherited the village of Speshnyovka in the Sengileyevsky uyezd of the Simbirsk Governorate. In 1826, he was elected district marshal of the nobility in the Sengileyevsky uyezd; he held this position until 1832. From 1841 to 1845, he was the Simbirsk governorate marshal of the nobility. Pyotr Yurlov died in 1869 and was buried in the cemetery of the Simbirsk Pokrovsky Monastery.
The smallsword was first displayed in 1898 at an exhibition commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Simbirsk. It was represented by Pyotr Yurlov’s grandson V.P. Meshcherinov, the Sengileyevsky uyezd marshal of the nobility. After the revolution, the smallsword was unaccounted for a long time. The rich collections stored in the former Yurlov-Meshcherinov estate in Speshnyovka were donated to the governorate museum in 1926. As for the sword, it was transferred to the museum in 1949 by the Ulyanovsk police.
