Quote:
Originally Posted by Battara
Jim I agree with the Scottish attribution, and I'll add the pommel form is more Scottish.
I was thinking early 18c though......?
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Thank you Jose,
It has been a while since researching these but it seems I had seen references stating the lines in the shields and saltires were an earlier Glasgow attribution which pretty much waned in 18th century. The Jacobite uprisings into the 1715 campaigns led to the first proscriptions of Highland arms, so obviously the production was largely curtailed.
However shops in Glasgow and other then 'garrison locations did continue producing swords with the basket hilt form in this style for British forces. These were structured similarly but the shields tended to be without piercings. However it is known that as late as 1760s there were examples still produced with the traditional piercings.
The dragoon swords in these forms were often with the feature known as the 'horsemans ring' , an oval in place of one of the shields, used to hold reins and sword while discharging the saddle holster pistols.
The first example is I believe c. 1720-30s, note the pommel ring which is generally held to indicate 'British' character rather than Scottish (as always of course exceptions).
The second is from 1750s-60s, perhaps into 1770s, but again, pommel ring, however the striations noted are present. This may be a much earlier hilt remounted in the later period as the notably long backsword blade came into favor in those later years.
While the time frame for these oval rings is unclear as earlier use of the feature than early 18th c. has been found, and on Stirling type Scottish hilts as well, in certain cases even some English swords. These kinds of rather nuanced features and character make specific attributions on these swords challenging at best.