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					Originally Posted by Norman McCormick
					
				 
				Some more baskets. From the top. 
 
1) Early 17th Cent., Scottish hilt, German blade. 
 
2) 1600-50, Scottish hilt, German blade. 
 
3) Early 17th Cent., Scottish hilt, German blade. 
 
4) 17th Cent., Scottish hilt, German blade. 
 
5) Early 18th Cent., Stirling hilt, German Blade. 
			
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 In looking at these basket hilts, it seems that #1 and #3 are of the form typically term 'ribbon hilts, and sometimes either snouted or beaknosed for the vestigial remains of cross quillon that remain . It seems like these are usually considered from about the third quarter of the 17th century to about the beginning of the 18th. (Wallace #20).
While nearly all Scottish basket hilts seem to have been mounted with German blades, there is one of this type and of this period with a contemporary French heavy cavalry sword blade ("Culloden: Sword and the Sorrows" p.44, 1:45). 
Best regards,
Jim