Silver Baskethilt Sword for comment

Jim McDougall · 2nd February 2024, 07:17 PM

Absolutely Brilliant 10th!
As always, the answers to our questions as we try to identify swords are so often not in any 'sword' book!
Here we have our answer in a 'silver spoon book' yay!

So this hilt maker, and apparently his family were situated in Madras. The Scottish presence in India has been well known during the British Raj, and Madras (then Chennai) was a key East India Co. center, with a considerable Scottish community.

By analogy I think of a Pathan commander of the famed "Khyber Rifles" c. 1880s in a photograph holding a Scottish basket hilt. Also, there was a very interesting paper online titled "The Tiger and the Thistle" about the notable Scottish presence in the East India Company in the time of Tipu Sultan in Mysore (near Madras). The tiger was the symbol of Tipu Sultan.

So perhaps a remarkably made Scottish basket hilt in silver produced for an officer or someone of notable standing in Madras in the periods established by the hallmark. It is hard to say what this apparently heirloom blade might be from, but obviously the inset ricasso as seen in rapier blades suggests it is from an entirely different type of sword .
Now to find the maker or user of that punzone on the blade.

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2nd February 2024, 07:17 PM	#5
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	Absolutely Brilliant 10th! As always, the answers to our questions as we try to identify swords are so often not in any 'sword' book! Here we have our answer in a 'silver spoon book' yay! So this hilt maker, and apparently his family were situated in Madras. The Scottish presence in India has been well known during the British Raj, and Madras (then Chennai) was a key East India Co. center, with a considerable Scottish community. By analogy I think of a Pathan commander of the famed "Khyber Rifles" c. 1880s in a photograph holding a Scottish basket hilt. Also, there was a very interesting paper online titled "The Tiger and the Thistle" about the notable Scottish presence in the East India Company in the time of Tipu Sultan in Mysore (near Madras). The tiger was the symbol of Tipu Sultan. So perhaps a remarkably made Scottish basket hilt in silver produced for an officer or someone of notable standing in Madras in the periods established by the hallmark. It is hard to say what this apparently heirloom blade might be from, but obviously the inset ricasso as seen in rapier blades suggests it is from an entirely different type of sword . Now to find the maker or user of that punzone on the blade.