Original Boyd & Sons Contract White Buff US 1840 NCO Baldric with Reproduction Breast Plate

Mexican American War & American Civil War

Nominally 58" in overall length, 2.15" wide and .13" thick. Made of undyed buff leather, whitened with chalk. Sewn, angled frog at the junction of the two ends of the leather to accommodate the frog hook on the throat of a US M1840 NCO Sword, or alternatively any similar scabbard with frog hook like that of an M1840 Musician's Sword. Baldric includes a standing loop on one end to secure the opposing end of the belt and three holes for length adjustment as well as two holes accept the hooks of the 3-hook NCO breast plate. Includes a reproduction NCO eagle breast plate for display. A partly visible but mostly illegible makers stamp is on the inside of the baldric which appears to read: MANUFACTURED/BY/JAMES BOYD & SONS/BOSTON, MASS. The firm of James Boyd (& Sons from about 1839 onward) was a Boston based saddlery firm that was in operation circa 1818-1885. One of their earliest contracts to provide US military accoutrements was from 1845 for 5,000 sets of infantry accoutrements, 1,000 sets of cavalry accoutrements, 120 single frog NCO shoulder belts (like the one offered here) and 25 double frog NCO shoulder belts that would accommodate a bayonet scabbard as well as the sword scabbard. The firm delivered another 9,000 sets of infantry accoutrements during the Civil War, from two different contracts dated October 1862 and November 1863. If the listings in Bazelon's American Military Goods Dealers & Makers are complete and all inclusive, it suggests that Boyd may have only produced 120 of these single frog NCO shoulder belts, making it a very rare, pre-Civil War accoutrement.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.