Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
This is amazing! but I am puzzled.
If I understand the AYZAVILLA with the flaming T is from the new factory at Toledo from 1761+ ??
However, the same T marking occurs on the M1728 swords from the family ARRIVILLAGA of Tolosa in Basque country?
It seems that Nuemann ("Swords and Blades of the American Revolution", 1972) shows one of these M1728 with flaming T and AYZAVILLA on blade and suggests use the the Galvez campaigns.
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That was my 2018 hypothesis.
Later I had another hypothesis trying to bind a movement of Eibar armourers to Trubia (starting with T) when Basque Country weapon factories were destroyed by the French in 1793. Some 500 of them went to work in Trubia and Oviedo. Trubia made bayonets and Oviedo muskets.
I was busy with this one when the blade with the complete spelling, ARRIVILLAGA surfaced.
It was never AYZAVILLA, it was a badly struck ARRIVILLAGA, missing letters.
And that the workshop was at Tolosa matches nicely with the crowned T.
There are still some threads to work with. I have one of those swoords that was found is a barn in Louisiana. In order o link it to Galvez we will need to know when were they made.