Civil War Era Tiffany & Co. Naval Presentation Sword, Belt, and Commendations, presented to U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Cadwalader Ringgold (1802-1867), 5 items total. 1st-2nd items: Tiffany & Co. sword with a German steel blade and etched scrolling foliate decorations, images of a naval engagement, a dolphin, and other maritime motifs, obverse, inscribed "U.S.N.", with the standing profile of a Naval Officer above "Tiffany/& Co./N.Y." within a masked riband, reverse. Ricasso stamped "Collins & Co.,/Hartford/Conn", obverse, dated "1861" to reverse. Gilt bronze hilt with eagle head quillon, pierced "U.S.N." lettering with oak leaves, and inscribed Robert Burns poem to guard reading "Affliction's Sons Are Brothers In Distress,/A Brother To Believe, How Exquisite The Bliss!". Scrolling oak leaf and acorn decoration to knuckle bow, the crowned head of Neptune, scrolling oak leaves and anchor to pommel, above a gilt brass grip wrapped in brass wire. Sterling silver scabbard with gilt brass mounts inscribed "Presented to/Captain Cadwalader Ringgold./of the Frigate Sabine by the/Battalion of U.S. Marines through his gallantry…/From the Wreck of the Transport/Governor/on the night of Nov. 2nd. 1861" with etched image of a naval engagement, the suspension mounts molded with anchors and scrolling oak leaves and acorns, the drag with the etched image of a dolphin entwined around a trident. Scabbard stamped "Tiffany & Co./Quality/925-1000/M" to reverse. Includes US Civil War Navy Officers Belt with two-piece interlocking gilt brass buckle depicting an eagle perched on an anchor, surrounded by thirteen stars, with an oak leaf and ribbon frame, with leather belt and brass mountings. All housed in a fitted wooden Tiffany and Company case with purple velvet and gilt stamp to interior. Blade length: 29". Overall length with scabbard: 37". Belt approximately: 42" L. Case: 4 1/4" H x 39 3/4" W x 6 3/4" D. 3rd-5th items: Three (3) ink on vellum scrolls issued in commendation for Ringgold, including one (1) from The City of New York, one (1) from the Legislature of the State of Maryland in General Assembly, and one (1) from the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, dated January 20 – March 13, 1862. All scrolls are trimmed in navy blue silk and wrapped around blue velvet covered wooden rods, two (2) with gilt metal handles. Ranging in size from 22 1/2" H x 18" W to 17" H x 26 1/4" W. Biography: "Cadwalader Ringgold (1802-1867) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in the United States Exploring Expedition, later headed an expedition to the Northwest and, after initially retiring, returned to service during the Civil War with the rank of captain. While in command of the frigate Sabine on November 1, 1861, he effected the rescue of a battalion of 400 Marines from Maryland whose transport steamer, Governor, was sinking during a severe storm near Port Royal, South Carolina. In February 1862, he was a part of the search and rescue of the ship of the line Vermont which had lost her rudder in a storm. For these rescues, Ringgold received commendations from the Maryland Legislature and the U.S. Congress, along with a gold medal from the Life Saving Benevolent Association. Promoted to commodore on July 16, 1862, he was sent (still on the Sabine), to cruise the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, the coast of Brazil and then back to New York in a search for the Confederate raider CSS Alabama from November 1862 to February 1863. In mid-1863, Ringgold's assignment was to search (again unsuccessfully) in the vicinity of Bermuda and then the New England coast for the bark CSS Tacony, another Confederate raider. For reasons of age, he was retired on August 20, 1864, and placed on the rear admiral (retired) list in 1866 (a promotion that was given to all commanders of squadrons). In retirement, he lived at 18 East Eighteenth Street (at Union Square) in New York City. Ringgold, who had never married, died of apoplexy (stroke) in New York on April 29, 1867." (source: Alan Fraser Houston, "Cadwalader Ringgold, U. S. Navy" article in California History magazine, Volume 79, Issue 4, Winter 2000, page 208).

PROVENANCE: Descended through the family of Rear Admiral Cadwalader Ringgold.

CONDITION: Sword with areas of oxidation, primarily to tip of blade. Leather to belt is stiff with cracking, several areas of separation. Scrolls with overall legible condition with toning, foxing spots, areas of holes/insect damage, largest 1/4", cracking to seals.