Swiss saber with inscription "ANNA" (?)

ulfberth · 6th January 2025, 01:41 PM

Hi Robin,
the word ANNA is not a makers mark , in the cristian context it means " favorite " or refers to Marie the Holly Mother.
The Romans named a year cycle ANNA , like we still use the word ANNO.
It is found every now and then mostly on 16th century blades, and i think your blade is 16th C the hilt around 1700, nothing wrong with that this is clearly mounted with an older blade during or at start of its working life.
I never saw a number following after the word ANNA as we do see it after the word ANNO.
In this case its refering to Marie and - or " the favorite" , in the same way as we find "MARIA" and "IESVS" on swords blades in the 16th and 17th c,
kind regards
Ulfberth

6th January 2025, 01:41 PM	#2
ulfberth Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 412	Hi Robin, the word ANNA is not a makers mark , in the cristian context it means " favorite " or refers to Marie the Holly Mother. The Romans named a year cycle ANNA , like we still use the word ANNO. It is found every now and then mostly on 16th century blades, and i think your blade is 16th C the hilt around 1700, nothing wrong with that this is clearly mounted with an older blade during or at start of its working life. I never saw a number following after the word ANNA as we do see it after the word ANNO. In this case its refering to Marie and - or " the favorite" , in the same way as we find "MARIA" and "IESVS" on swords blades in the 16th and 17th c, kind regards Ulfberth