Inscription on the blade: Stanislaus Augustus Rex Dedit ANNO 1764. The sword—made before 25 November 1764 and frequently listed in inventories of the royal wardrobe—was taken by the King to Grodno, and later, after his abdication, to St. Petersburg. In 1799, following Tsar Paul I’s order, it was placed in the Kremlin Armoury. It was restituted to Poland in 1928 and in the interwar period was on display in the Throne Room. After the outbreak of World War II the sword was evacuated to Romania, then to France and Canada, and in 1959 it was returned to Poland. As evident from the inscription on the blade, the sword was funded by Stanisław August probably as an insignia for the Order of the White Eagle as part of the coronation ceremony: it marked the significant role of the king-elect acquiring the privileges of Grand Master of the Order. It can be assumed that the sword was used on the day of the coronation ceremony, when three gentlemen were dubbed Knights of the Order, and perhaps even the day after, when the townspeople paid homage to the King in the Old Town. According to the archives, it was also used later as an insignia of the Order of St. Stanisław. The King himself was most probably the main influence behind the choice of pommel in the form of an eagle’s head, the plaques at the ends of the cross-guard with images of the Virgin Mary, St. Stanisław and the royal monogram, as well as the oval cartouche with the coats of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Poniatowski family—Ciołek (bull calf). The monarch was consistent in supervising every stage of any artistic venture, be they large architectural projects or simple decorative objects. As far as the shape of the pommel is concerned, the King probably followed the established tradition, as a sabre with an eagle-headed hilt was used during the coronation by John III Sobieski and also by August II. The exquisite decorative elements of the sword combine features typical of the Baroque style (abundant feathery palm leaves at the ends of the cross-guard) and early neoclassical style (the meander or the cannelured grip, entwined with garlands of laurel leaves). An analysis of the ornamental motifs and archival references allows us to assume that the sword was probably designed by Ephraim Schröger, a very popular architect who designed the pontifical consoles for coronation day as well as three designs for the first royal seal, which was probably executed by Joachim Friedrich Jacobson I, and mentioned in his bill for the King. One of the designs uses the motif of an eagle: in this case embracing the shield instead of crowning it. Schröger may also have designed the throne and perhaps also the collar of the Order of the White Eagle. No mention has been found in the archives so far about the craftsman who made the hilt, although it is of high artistic skill. The blade, however, based on the preserved bill, can be attributed with a high degree of certainty to the studio of Joachim Friedrich Jacobson I, the maker of the collar of the Order. The only archival reference known to me that could be linked to the ceremonial sword of the Order of the White Eagle is information that in 1765 the royal treasury still owed 211 ducats to “Mister Zyman for the sword." Adam Ziemann, a merchant and financier, presumably acted as a middleman who paid for the King’s commission. The sword was depicted in preparatory sketches for the King’s portrait attributed to Joseph Christoph Werner (1764) that are preserved in the Print Room, and in the coronation portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1769–71).