Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmitry
A VERY interesting and rare sword. Perhaps Italian. A type of a storta.
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Thanks for posting this, it's quite a
rara avis. As Jim has already pointed out, a
storta has a broader, somewhat shorter blade with curved edge. In fact, the reference literature sometimes refers to the weapon as a
coltella, based on the word for knife.
Your sword is what is typically called a
mezza spada (lit. "half-sword" for its single straight edge), and the dorsal parrying prong sets it apart from the typical backsword. They're fairly rare, two excellent examples are in the Wiener Waffensammlung and the Armeria del Palazzo Ducale in Venice (both published in Boccia/Coelho
Armi Bianche Italiane. Both of those have distinctive teardrop shaped pommels, yours is unique in its pommel form, which is seen elsewhere in Europe on earlier swords and discussed at some length by Ewart Oakeshott's books on medieval sword types.