Sorry, I was out of town until today. Back to this fascinating cup-hilt form.
Jim, I had missed your earlier synopsis of this sword's Haitian connection, with its talismanic charms on the grip. Your theory makes sense! There were certainly very specific styles of espadas that we see throughout the colonies. The Cuban style swords, as pictured in Brinkerhoff's volume comes to mind (their distinctive strap-like bars with studs to the guard). All of the Indies undoubtedly had their own styles, much like the Brazilian cutlass that you helped identify on this forum. I do hope you are right that we might see others in the future to pin this form down.
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