Hesse Sword Knot

I picked up a nice Hessian Infantry Officer sword knot last week that I thought I would show.  There is an earlier Hessian Infantry Officer sword with a proper early Hesse knot with a round ball and stem and slider used for Infantry Officers prior to 1889. This is the later knot used after 1889-96. This Portepee has an oval ball and stem and slider with a gold bullion strap like the earlier knot. There is a red insert in the bottom of the ball of both of these knots. The Hesse Cavalry Portepee is different in that it has a different black strap with red and silver stripes.

I was happy to find this knot incorrectly attached to a US Model 1872 Officer sword at the Chickasha military show. I just had to convince the guy with the US sword that the knot was the wrong one for his sword and that I would buy it at his price. Which I did.