19th c. abalone inlayed whale tooth pommel, exotic wood shaft. Silver band engraved: “Willard Sears / New Bedford”. 35″L. Cracks to pommel, overall good condition. Willard Thomas Sears (1837-1920) was a prominent New England architect and founding partner of the firm Cumming and Sears. They were responsible for designing the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, the Old South Church in Boston, and Isabella Stewart Gardner’s home Fenway Court.
