TULWAR now cleaned up....with a few surprises.

katana · 29th September 2009, 11:21 AM

Hi Kisak

,
thank you for replying. Having the sword 'in hand' it feels nicely balanced. I believe that the rivetting was done to re-inforce the 'fixing' of the blade, not, as I had originally thought, as a repair /emergency construction. (as you have pointed out). The patina on the blade around the langet area suggests that the hilt and blade have been together for a very long time.

The tang of the blade was also 'fixed' with resin....much of which has , through age, has 'dried out' and crumbled.

I get the impression that the blade was 'valued' by its owner. The hilt has/had a thick layer of silver ( the deep scoring on the exposed sections of the hilt is original, probably to provide a 'key' to help secure the silver ....and is not due to my 'excessive cleaning'

) The hilt is also larger than the normal Tulwar....It comfortably fits my hand

.

I wondered whether this was a 'captured' blade and was hoping the 'square' shaped stamp (in the picture) would provide clues as to its origins. The inlays may have been added afterwards, but I am not certain.

All the best
David

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29th September 2009, 11:21 AM	#4
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Hi Kisak , thank you for replying. Having the sword 'in hand' it feels nicely balanced. I believe that the rivetting was done to re-inforce the 'fixing' of the blade, not, as I had originally thought, as a repair /emergency construction. (as you have pointed out). The patina on the blade around the langet area suggests that the hilt and blade have been together for a very long time. The tang of the blade was also 'fixed' with resin....much of which has , through age, has 'dried out' and crumbled. I get the impression that the blade was 'valued' by its owner. The hilt has/had a thick layer of silver ( the deep scoring on the exposed sections of the hilt is original, probably to provide a 'key' to help secure the silver ....and is not due to my 'excessive cleaning' ) The hilt is also larger than the normal Tulwar....It comfortably fits my hand . I wondered whether this was a 'captured' blade and was hoping the 'square' shaped stamp (in the picture) would provide clues as to its origins. The inlays may have been added afterwards, but I am not certain. All the best David