Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Old Spanish Colonial Sword-Curious Blade

Jim McDougall · 26th May 2025, 06:30 PM

While this discussion ended as often the case with more questions than answers, it remains very much a mystery to me. The interesting suggestion of the similarity of the blade on this example (OP) to examples made in Solingen by Alex Coppel for Brazilian swords in 19th c. presented some rather disappointing potential.
More research into the Coppel 'brand' reveals the name occurred from 1821-1976, but the more modern, into 20th cent mostly bayonets.

The note of the elliptical center fuller which is hollowed does resemble the blades of the M1853 and 1882-85 cavalry swords, however these have a notable ridge from the terminus of the fuller to point.

With this example that does not seem the case. The blade is entirely unmarked and aging seems commensurate with sword overall.

With this hilt, the conundrum continues. With the illustration (Reid, 1976) showing a Spanish sword with a blade marked CORRIENTES is most interesting. Corrientes made blades in Toledo/Madrid until his death 1733.
This form hilt of course corresponds to the Maghrebi 'nimchas' of latter 17th c. which in turn seem to reflect earlier Italian hilt features.

Notable as well is that the line drawing in Reid (op. cit.) of this sword includes the curious feature of the NOTCH in the blade, an anomaly which seems to have been a limited convention on Austrian swords of the 18th c. (Wagner, 1967). Like Wagner, Reid apparently thought this curious feature was worthy of inclusion in his drawing.

With these notes pertaining to the character of my example (OP), it would seem that the hilt is considerably older than the blade. However the styling (such as striated shell guard) seems to favor earlier conventions favored in the Iberian sphere.

In the shellguard 'cutlasses' attributed to Brazilian context, they have the same langet protrusion as this one, again supporting Brazilian and these regions as a source for the hilts. Further, the Cuban machete/sword known as guanabacoa (for city near Havana) are known with these kinds of shell hilts with striation.

I would suspect the hilt on my example may be from these regions, probably Brazil, from 18th century, possibly mid to latter, and might be progenitor of the shell guard forms of early into latter 19th c. These full shell hilts seem to often carry British blades from 1814-20s, which likely derived from prevalent trade in South Seas (Caribbean)in those times.

Portuguese presence in Brazil was of course long established, and dramatically increased with Napoleon invading Portugal in 1807, with Prince Regent Dom Joao (later King John (Joao VI) establishing seat of Portuguese government there. As British allies, the number of British blades in Brazil as in Carribean was part of the commerce.

The machetes we have long termed 'Berber' which were actually from Cuba and Dominican Republic, seem to have often had old British M1796 light cavalry blades invariably reprofiled at the tip.

26th May 2025, 06:30 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,253	The conundrum continues While this discussion ended as often the case with more questions than answers, it remains very much a mystery to me. The interesting suggestion of the similarity of the blade on this example (OP) to examples made in Solingen by Alex Coppel for Brazilian swords in 19th c. presented some rather disappointing potential. More research into the Coppel 'brand' reveals the name occurred from 1821-1976, but the more modern, into 20th cent mostly bayonets. The note of the elliptical center fuller which is hollowed does resemble the blades of the M1853 and 1882-85 cavalry swords, however these have a notable ridge from the terminus of the fuller to point. With this example that does not seem the case. The blade is entirely unmarked and aging seems commensurate with sword overall. With this hilt, the conundrum continues. With the illustration (Reid, 1976) showing a Spanish sword with a blade marked CORRIENTES is most interesting. Corrientes made blades in Toledo/Madrid until his death 1733. This form hilt of course corresponds to the Maghrebi 'nimchas' of latter 17th c. which in turn seem to reflect earlier Italian hilt features. Notable as well is that the line drawing in Reid (op. cit.) of this sword includes the curious feature of the NOTCH in the blade, an anomaly which seems to have been a limited convention on Austrian swords of the 18th c. (Wagner, 1967). Like Wagner, Reid apparently thought this curious feature was worthy of inclusion in his drawing. With these notes pertaining to the character of my example (OP), it would seem that the hilt is considerably older than the blade. However the styling (such as striated shell guard) seems to favor earlier conventions favored in the Iberian sphere. In the shellguard 'cutlasses' attributed to Brazilian context, they have the same langet protrusion as this one, again supporting Brazilian and these regions as a source for the hilts. Further, the Cuban machete/sword known as guanabacoa (for city near Havana) are known with these kinds of shell hilts with striation. I would suspect the hilt on my example may be from these regions, probably Brazil, from 18th century, possibly mid to latter, and might be progenitor of the shell guard forms of early into latter 19th c. These full shell hilts seem to often carry British blades from 1814-20s, which likely derived from prevalent trade in South Seas (Caribbean)in those times. Portuguese presence in Brazil was of course long established, and dramatically increased with Napoleon invading Portugal in 1807, with Prince Regent Dom Joao (later King John (Joao VI) establishing seat of Portuguese government there. As British allies, the number of British blades in Brazil as in Carribean was part of the commerce. The machetes we have long termed 'Berber' which were actually from Cuba and Dominican Republic, seem to have often had old British M1796 light cavalry blades invariably reprofiled at the tip.