[midelburgo]

I believe there are many things mixed in this subject.

First we have the origin of the blades. Until c1808, there was no lack of regular crown blades for the army, made in Barcelona or in Toledo. We can imagine there was even an overflow of them after Galvez campaigns in Louisiana and Florida. Brinckerhoff (plate 166) shows blades from a discovery, without mountings, both cavalry and dragoons, ready to be remounted possibly after 1820. These could be cut down to be infantry weapons. Brinkerhoff has plenty of those because he travelled to Madrid Army museum to complete his research.

Shorter weapons could be had from the navy as well.

As in Spain, we find also Solingen blades, with the motto "no me saques sin razon" or others "Por el rey Carlos III". This were private purchases, by officers and by civilians. There is a very interesting article. GODOY, J. A. (1988): «Modelos de espadas y sables para el ejército y armada de Carlos III». Reales Sitios, nº 98. Here the author has described real size, blades cardboard samples, sent to the court by a Solingen cutler c1775, and nowadays at the Simancas archives. I have seen most of those models in real swords from the period. In Brinckerhoff, plates 168 to 172 are of this type. There are curved and straight, infantry and cavalry.

We have also a lot of blade exports of the Carynthia type (plates 127, 131, 134, 135, etc). Straight, three channeled, these blades are found from Scotland to the Caspian sea and India. They were also later made in Solingen for a century and a half (kaskaras).

A variety of these are blades made after the Mexican Independance in Solingen, combining the three channels with Spanish mottoes and false claims to Toledo with fake dating, but quite often with the real Solingen mark as well (P.KNECHT is a common one). Made in 1830 to 1860 but with a much antique look, and used in the non-government side of the sucesive Mexican revolutions. Example below. The writing can be found in script as in cursive, and are easily mistaken with XVIIIth century blades. If weathered and no Solingen mark is present, the main difference is in the existence of a squarish ricasso, and the regularity of the channels, thinner and closer.

Then we have the blades made locally, usually shorter types, and the types above disfigured beyond recognition, of what little systematics can be done.

About the hilts, they could be done locally, but specially after 1808 when no more supplies from Spain could be had. The more fantastic ones (those with the quillions under the shell) I believe are from later times, about 1850, as the revolutionary commanders mixed their wishes of connection with their people with a (fake or real) Toledo blade.

It is possible to find typical Solingen hilts (three barred, iron) but I believe most blades were sent without mountings and they were provided in Mexico.

So, under Espadas anchas we have many different things, product of a 100 yers of tumultuous warfare in Greater Mexico.

The description I make of the picture above is:
1st one is a cheaper copy of a Brescian hilt, made probably in Europe, 2nd is a 1728 cavalry model from a still unknown factory (I suspect now Trubia, in Northern Spain c1790).
A Cuban machete after 1880 (3rd from the left, Guanabacoa type). 4th, much older hilt than the blade, I can no say sure if is or is not a Espada Ancha. Closely related to number 6th, that I believe is a Brazilian c1840-1860 sword, for long thought to be "moorish" by many antiquarians. There could be an interesting evolutionary relation there. The 5th is very interesting because those grip cylinder types with caps were often used in 1760-1800 by Spanish private officers in infantry and navy, often in silver, but what we have here I believe is a Mexican revolutionary sword from c1850-1860, so a grip making tradition was kept for a century.