BLADE MARKINGS ASSOCIATED WITH EUROPEAN MAKERS

Jim McDougall · 15th October 2017, 01:22 AM

As many are now aware, the classic thread, "Early European Trademarks" was lost through a technical malfunction last week. This thread was opened in 2007 with the purpose of cataloguing and discussing well known blade markings, inscriptions and symbolic decoration typically seen on blades of Europe.
It is well known of course that these blades often diffused into ethnographic settings through trade and other means, and often the native artisans began to copy these on blades as well.

The original thread served well in archiving considerable data and examples of these marks etc. which was clearly widely used by the arms and armour community at large as a resource in the study of both areas of edged weapons.

The standard resources which have information on marks found on blades are compendiums which are now long out of print and often hard to find and expensive.
However, the recently published work by Staffan Kinman, research director of the Swedish Arms and Armor Society:
"European Makers of Edged Weapons and Their Marks" (2015)
is superb and comprehensive, compiling much of the material of these hard to find volumes.
Details on acquiring this have been listed in the Swap Forum for some time.

Meanwhile, the objective here is to observe and discuss the many variations or unusual examples which are often found, and to expand our knowledge base on this topic beyond those already included in these works.

Also, we hope to learn more on origins, and scope of use of these marks, as well as how many became known in other contexts with different connotations symbolically and so on.

While the malfunction losing the original was unfortunate, I think we can develop this new thread to be even better, and with a more status quo perspective on the examples and subject matter acquired over the past decade.

As posts or material from the old thread is found and retrieved, I hope these might be integrated into the content here by reposting it inclusively here.

My sincere thanks to Lee, Ibrahiim and Shayde for their efforts in trying to retrieve the lost material of the old thread, and in advance to those of you for any assistance further and in the development of this one.

By using the search function and key words for the marks or topic being sought, you will direct to the content of this thread rather than having to go to classic threads and through the bulk of the posts.

15th October 2017, 01:22 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,940	BLADE MARKINGS ASSOCIATED WITH EUROPEAN MAKERS As many are now aware, the classic thread, "Early European Trademarks" was lost through a technical malfunction last week. This thread was opened in 2007 with the purpose of cataloguing and discussing well known blade markings, inscriptions and symbolic decoration typically seen on blades of Europe. It is well known of course that these blades often diffused into ethnographic settings through trade and other means, and often the native artisans began to copy these on blades as well. The original thread served well in archiving considerable data and examples of these marks etc. which was clearly widely used by the arms and armour community at large as a resource in the study of both areas of edged weapons. The standard resources which have information on marks found on blades are compendiums which are now long out of print and often hard to find and expensive. However, the recently published work by Staffan Kinman, research director of the Swedish Arms and Armor Society: "European Makers of Edged Weapons and Their Marks" (2015) is superb and comprehensive, compiling much of the material of these hard to find volumes. Details on acquiring this have been listed in the Swap Forum for some time. Meanwhile, the objective here is to observe and discuss the many variations or unusual examples which are often found, and to expand our knowledge base on this topic beyond those already included in these works. Also, we hope to learn more on origins, and scope of use of these marks, as well as how many became known in other contexts with different connotations symbolically and so on. While the malfunction losing the original was unfortunate, I think we can develop this new thread to be even better, and with a more status quo perspective on the examples and subject matter acquired over the past decade. As posts or material from the old thread is found and retrieved, I hope these might be integrated into the content here by reposting it inclusively here. My sincere thanks to Lee, Ibrahiim and Shayde for their efforts in trying to retrieve the lost material of the old thread, and in advance to those of you for any assistance further and in the development of this one. By using the search function and key words for the marks or topic being sought, you will direct to the content of this thread rather than having to go to classic threads and through the bulk of the posts.