Incredibly Big Texas Civil War D Guard

[Silver Shield]

This very large D guard from the American Civil War , was dug near Aransas Pass Texas at the site of the old town Ingelside. I was most likely used by Duff's 33rd Texas Cavalry. The Texas cavalry units where know to have carried these types of large knifes , instead of swords commonly .. About 62cm long , .5cm thick , approximately 928g heavy, and a central uncovered handle core , that even I with fairly large hands would be almost too big with any covering like wood used in the period . A period belt buckle is shown for scale. Texans what else can you say ! Blade is not even sharp , so in effect a large steel club .....

[CSinTX]

Very cool! Can you tell us more about the actual provenance and or how you came to have the individual item?

I dont know much about CSA items and have shied away due to the large percentage of counterfeits. I really should learn more. Ancestry research has turned up a number of coastal Texas ancestors that fought in the war and are buried in the East Bernard and Eagle Lake area.

[Silver Shield]

I got this "Iron Club"in trade from a well respected Texas digger , collector and author. But you must have some expertise in the items them self and at least good eye for natural patina that is correct for locality , and item . But , hey I was fooled with a Indian Pipe Tomahawk recently that was a forgery , I'm not so smart. Luckily this D Guard had good provenance too , all these things add up . Even major museums get fooled , case in point Archaic Greek Horse head at the MET , and I personally called out a forgery at the Prado in Madrid done by the same shop or person , every body "said your wrong !, This is the Prado" but its off display now , not from my opinion I assure you !
. You simply must make a informed decision especially on objects like CSA stuff which is so commonly faked .

[Silver Shield]

One more thing even the most respected dealers make mistakes , study your subject , and look for well provenanced examples in collection for comparison . The old saying is" any collector that has not been fooled , just does not know it yet" I have found this out to be largely correct .