Twistcore Moro spear with provenance, collected in 1872!

[kai]

Hello Jose,

This piece also strengthens my argument that Moro twist cores where dying out by the last quarter of the 19thc and basically gone by the turn of the 20th.

Could you develop your hypothesis, please? Not trying to pick on you, just curious!

I don't see how this spear collected around 1872 has any impact on this topic? Very rare to have such well-documented provenance, especially for pieces in a private collection; the collection date is neither particularly early nor late though.

The Moro economies had been steadily declining during the 19th century and also the Span.-Am. war certainly did take its toll as did the US colonial presence afterwards well into the 20th century. Thus, it is to be expected that orders for high status pieces were declining. Numbers of swordsmiths and their experience/skills probably, too...

Regards,
Kai