Looking for information on Andres Martinez of Toledo

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by 10thRoyal

I'm very relieved to hear that FINALLY I have found something that is not entirely a Victorian reproduction. I was on the verge of giving up honestly. As for the inscription, I'm hoping it looks a little less janky after some time with a tooth brush but clearly a calligrapher Andres was not.

Something interesting I noticed from the armory catalogue I posted earlier, the mark on my sword seems to have been made with the same stamp as the example that was found in the armory. As in the exact same physical punch was used to make both markings. Not sure if that is actually interesting or not.

As Fernando has noted, it was not unusual to have this 'Latin' esque type of inscription on actual Toledo blades. There were a number of Solingen makers who actually worked in Toledo at times, such Henry Koll (Enrique Coel).
He has shown important detail on this maker from the remarkable resources that he has access to, so that seems well established.

I would point out that this punzone with the T is correctly placed as per authentic Spanish swords of 17th c. and Victorian replicas never had makers detail on them as they were not produced with deception in mind.
That mark with the hump over the T is interesting as it is unique, and it seems to this family. The T with other embellishment seems more often copied on other blades known produced in Solingen, often with incongruent Spanish makers names and marks.
Therefore, as agreed, yours has all appearance of the real deal, at least as far as the blade.

It is possible that the hilt was a later addition, and while replicas did occasionally use 'real' vintage blades, this was a common occurrence on authentically used rapiers as well. These were often repaired or rehilted in accord with changes in fashion or preference of owner through working lives, and to find an example not 'composite' is quite remarkable.