The French Infantry Officer’s Sword Model 1882 (Sabre modèle 1882 d’officier d’infanterie) was based on the colonial troops’ sword used in Africa.
It featured a scabbard suspension system with a single ring and became a standard weapon for both junior and senior officers, often adopted by the army’s general staff with distinctive star markings.
Production was established in Saint-Étienne by the local gunsmith Balp at the «BALP St. Étienne» manufactory, later an official supplier to the French army. His son expanded the workshop, introducing a new mark depicting a rapier hilt with the letters “B” and “F.” The family business, later transformed into «S.A. Balp», continued the tradition and still manufactures ceremonial swords for the French military.
Mass production of the Model 1882 sword took place during World War I. It was used by engineers, colonial troops (except artillery), the gendarmerie, chasseurs, mountain hunters, and the Republican Guard. Officially withdrawn from service on 13 August 1925, it remains in use today by cadets of the National Fire Officers School.
This specimen dates to the French Third Republic (1890–1895), the Belle Époque era. The blade is steel, straight, double-edged, with a spear-point tip and a narrow fuller on both sides. The hilt includes a wooden grip with transverse grooves and a metal core, a smooth backstrap with a rounded pommel, and a peened tang. The guard is metal, with one main and three secondary branches flowing into a small cup; its rear quillon curves toward the blade with a bud-like finial, and the knuckle bow has a slot for a sword knot. Near the guard, the blade bears the two-line mark «Balp / St. Etienne». Scabbard missing.