Presentation Smallsword with Scabbard of Captain W. E. Cracraft

Inscription: Inscribed on the guard: PRESENTED BY THE COMMANDERS OF THE JAMAICA SHIPS IN THE LONDON TRADE TO CAPTn. W.E. CRACRAFT, OF HIS M.S. SEVERN FOR HIS PARTICULAR CARE OF THE FLEET TO ENGLAND IN 1798; Meum stringi pro Rege et Patria sed non gloriam extra revertitis. (It is my part to be drawn for king and country but you return not without glory); on the grip, a monogram in script: W E C; on a ribbon below the coat-of-arms, the motto: DUM SPIRO SPERO.

Marking: Arms on the hilt: Quarterly, 1 and 4, vert, on a bend dancetté argent, three martlets sable (for Cracroft [or Cracraft?]); 2 and 3, bary of seven argent and gules, on a bend dexter sable, three escallops argent; with a crest: A stork, argent, grasping a battle axe proper; on the knuckle guard, guard, socket, grip and twice on the pommel: 18, crown within an octaggon (in 1798 these marks took the pace of the lion passant mark when the new gold standard of 18 fine, instead of 22 fine, was introduced); on the knuckle guard: a crowned leopard's head within the octagon; C within the octagon (London date letter for 1798–99); on the knuckle guard, guard, socket, and grip: I M within a rectangle (the maker's mark); on the knuckle guard: a King's head, in profile to the right.

Clarence H. Mackay, Roslyn, NY (until d. 1938; his estate, sold through Seligmann & Co. to Grancsay); Stephen V. Grancsay, New York (by January 14, 1941–42; his gift to MMA).

Jackson, Charles James Sir. English Goldsmiths and Their Marks: A History of the Goldsmiths and Plate Workers of England, Scotland, and Ireland.... 2nd Edition ed. London: MacMillan, 1921. pp. 88, 222 (maker's mark).

Christie, Manson & Woods. Choice Collection of Arms and Armour. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 5, 1931. no. 180.

Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 107, ill.

Blair, Claude. Three Presentation Swords in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Group of English Enamels. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972. p. 47, no. 19.

Southwick, Leslie. "New Facts About James Morisset and a Revised List of His Known Works, With Others by his Successors John Ray and James Montague." The Journal of the Arms and Armor Society (Sept. 1997), pp. 327–29, no. 26.