page_title: City of London swords
section_title: Old Bailey Sword
hierarchical_section_title: City of London swords / Old Bailey Sword
caption_attribution_description: Old Bailey
context_page_description: The City of London swords are five two-handed ceremonial swords owned by the City of London, namely the Mourning Sword, the Pearl Sword, the State Sword, the Old Bailey Sword and the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. A sixth sword, the Travelling Sword of State, replaces the Sword of State for visits outside the City. They are part of the plate collection of Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.
context_section_description: The Old Bailey Sword hangs behind the senior judge sitting at the Old Bailey, one of the buildings housing the Crown Court in London. When the Lord Mayor opens the term at the Old Bailey, it is placed above his-or-her chair. The Cutlers' Society records that this is the sword that was made by Richard Mathew in 1562–63 and presented to the City in 1563. They quote William St John Hope describing it as follows:
  Its blade is of no great antiquity, but the pommel and quillons, which are of copper-gilt and handsomely wrought, belong to the sixteenth century, and very possibly to the sword given to the City by Richard Matthew, citizen and cutler, in 1563. The scabbard is covered with purple velvet and retains its original six lockets and chape of copper-gilt with intermediate devices of recent date.
  — William St John Hope
  It has a blade 2 feet 11 ³⁄₄ inches (0.908 m) long and 1 ⁵⁄₈ in (4.1 cm) wide, and an 11 ¹⁄₄ in (29 cm) hilt. It weighs 3 lb 6 ³⁄₄ oz (1.55 kg) without the scabbard. Five inches (13 cm) of the  point have been damaged and repaired with electroplating. Like the Pearl Sword, the lower part of the blade is blued and decorated. Its scabbard is covered with crimson velvet and decorated with gold lace, copper-gilt and silver-gilt.
caption: The Old Bailey
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