Hunting Sword, Thoughts?
 

A friend and co-worked of mine who is predominantly collects ACW and War of 1812 recently shared a curious European hunting sword with me. I ask his permission to share it here to see what folks thoughts on it might be. The blade is the real curiousity of it. I believe it is wootz and have attached a pic close up pic of the pattern. The long snakey raised figures on either side of the blade running full length with gold decoration are something I've never scene before. He knows nothing at this time beyond what the person from whom he obtained it told him which is that this sword was a WWII bring back. He took lots of pictures so I will post the best/most relevant for perusal. Any and all thoughts regarding country of origin, maker age ect. are welcome and appreciated.

Some better pictures of te blade and the snake tail would certainly help.
My two cents? Pamor or wootz blade? Snake tail? A hirschfanger from the Tjikeroe area. That's my first guess.

I'd agree with you Henk, but for the stamp(s) on the tang and the furniture castings ... :confused:

Tang stamp rotated:

My buddy is out of town until Monday. I have messaged him that pics of the full blade and snake on it would be of assistance upon his return. Here's a few more of the pics he took.

That was my idea too Rick. The stamps on the tang puzzled me most. Reproducing the furniture castings was a job they could do pretty well over there. :shrug:

A nice sharp picture of the stamps will probably answer the question of origin (of the blade at least) . :)

Yes ... vital !!!

Even though it resembles in some ways the swords from western Java (Tjikeroeh and environs), I think this one is European with a prominently laminated blade.

The absence of a prominent single fuller with engraved vines and leaves is important, and we do not see the place name (or its abbreviated form) inscribed at forte along with the year of manufacture. The marks on the tang are also atypical and appear to have been stamped, whereas the marks on Tjike blades are all chiseled and scribed.

This style of sword or one like it may have been an inspiration for some of the west Java swords that were made towards the end of the 19th C. through to about the 1920s.

Ian.

Hi there,

one of the words clearly reads "Damast" meaning damascus steel.
According to some sources I have (i.e. Manfred Sachse: Damaszener-Stahl. Mythos. Geschichte. Technik. Anwendung) blades forged in Solingen in the 19th century made of damascus steel were marked like this on the tang, so I assume it was made in Solingen, Germany.


Best regards, Helge

I spoke with my buddy who will take pics of the whole blade. He has contacted the person from whom he got it and it was a WWII bring back from Czechoslovakia.

I guess the question then arises: is the snake element Eastern or Western influence ?