A composite sword

[Matus]

Hello,

a friend of mine recently acquired this sword, knowing it's most probably a composite piece.
We think the hilt might be possibly 17th century, the blade most probably 19th century. What puzzles us - there are remains of gilding on the blade (as well as on the hilt). So we are wondering why would anyone in the 19th century gild such a blade.

Total sword length: 112 cm
Blade length: 91 cm

Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

Thank you,
Matus

[Matus]

more pictures

[fernando]

Nice sword, Matus.
Why do you place the blade in such late period ? I know you have it in your hands, so you can judge better.
I can't trace the name GORROCHATEGUI, a Spanish (Basque) name, in my scarce material on swordsmiths, but maybe someone here will.
... Or maybe this was the owner's name, FS being the blade smith's mark :shrug:

[kronckew]

yep, composite. the visible tang looks like it had a piece added so it would fit the grip, ie. it was made for another sword. maybe someone 'repairing' a broken original that was also gilded?

[Matus]

The blade feels really thin and also the "F S" stamp with the grape (?) doesn't look like 17th century.
The overall feel of the sword is also a bit "shaky".