Schiavona - The one that got away

Philip · 22nd April 2022, 09:34 PM

Fernando, this is quite an interesting sword. A friend in Canada has one with the same style of guard, and he calls it a "proto-schiavona" too since its construction is even simpler than the earliest recognizable schiavona hilt, the Oakeshott Type 1. His sword has a cat's head pommel but from its material (bronze) and workmanship (domed center with well-worked beaded deco, contrasting with a very plain hilt), we think it's a later replacement on an older sword.

What I find intriguing about your (former) example is that the pommel is not the Venetian feline at all. It's rather Scottish-looking, more precisely the biconical Type V as shown in Cyril Mazansky's excellent book, British Basket-Hilted Swords (2005) pp 22- 23, 78. Do you recall if there was a small groove on the lower, inverted "cone" of your pommel? Typically, that retained the edge of the basket hilt on those Scottish swords.

22nd April 2022, 09:34 PM	#25
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Fernando, this is quite an interesting sword. A friend in Canada has one with the same style of guard, and he calls it a "proto-schiavona" too since its construction is even simpler than the earliest recognizable schiavona hilt, the Oakeshott Type 1. His sword has a cat's head pommel but from its material (bronze) and workmanship (domed center with well-worked beaded deco, contrasting with a very plain hilt), we think it's a later replacement on an older sword. What I find intriguing about your (former) example is that the pommel is not the Venetian feline at all. It's rather Scottish-looking, more precisely the biconical Type V as shown in Cyril Mazansky's excellent book, British Basket-Hilted Swords (2005) pp 22- 23, 78. Do you recall if there was a small groove on the lower, inverted "cone" of your pommel? Typically, that retained the edge of the basket hilt on those Scottish swords.