As always, thank you, Jim, for being so generous with your feedback.
I found some examples of hilts that share some elements with the sword in question. All of these are from the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The ballock dagger is thought to be Western European/British from c1450-1500
The pommel is listed as British c.1630
The transitional rapier is listed as Brescan c. 1650
As Jim said, these might have served as a pallet to inspire a later creation. I'm still perplexed at the amount of work someone put into this if merely meant as a wall-hanger. But, it worked to separate me from my money, so...mission accomplished?
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