EIC Navy question

[james.elstob]

Hi all,

Is there a definitive date when the use of the EIC lion on navy blade/hilts stopped. Did the Indian Navy continue to use this after the HEIC was defunkt?

I'm asking in relation to an 1846 pattern but it's not a sword I own.

Thanks

[Will Mathieson]

A definitive end date for the EIC was 1857 with the Indian Mutiny. Unlikely officers would buy new swords, though attrition would account for the swords going out of service and possibly re hilting.
Nothing in the book Naval Swords by McGrath and Barton.

[james.elstob]

So reasonable to assume that anything with the lion, navy or not is pre 1858?

[Will Mathieson]

Yes, as of 1858 the EIC was no more and was part of the British Army and navy. Not all EIC swords had the lion, some were plain and without provenance impossible to distinguish from British swords unless made on the continent and can be dated.