Gilding on European Medieval Swords

Lee · 10th October 2025, 05:34 PM

Yes, indeed, even a blind squirrel occasionally gets a nut and after 40 years of seeking there may even be a small stash.

The website did start out especially focused on European Medieval swords. A lonely focus. Daydreaming at a particularly irrelevant (to me) lecture at a professional conference, I developed a desire to advise aspiring collectors that there was a wide variety of exciting artifacts worthy of their attention.

Hotspur · 10th October 2025, 06:33 PM

The main resource page is a bookmark I found through the Sir Clisto pages, so many decades ago.

I have studied here since.

A jewel.

Reventlov · 11th October 2025, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee

The website did start out especially focused on European Medieval swords.

I am still here for this at least! Thanks for sharing, very interesting and surprising to see this on the Ulfberht sword - so few hilts of this time show any (surviving) trace of decoration.

- Mark

Triarii · 12th October 2025, 11:54 AM

This is excellent. The kind of use of technology that takes us away from having to speculate, based upon other finds. Glad that your first sword turned out to be genuine. Love the shape - Oakeshott isn't my thing but it reminds me of the Wallace Collection late C14th A460 which I got my hands on a few months ago.

Lee · 13th October 2025, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reventlov

...surprising to see this on the Ulfberht sword...

A big surprise for me as well, though I suspect more will be found as additional collections are surveyed with this technology. My survey was designed to disclose elemental variations associated with pattern-welding and iron inlays and I'll share those findings here in due course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triarii

...but it reminds me of the Wallace Collection late C14th A460...

and also A462 in the same collection. I suspect the dating on my example above may range into the first half of the 15th Century. The discovery of the gold traces was indeed a pleasant and thrilling surprise!

CSinTX · 15th October 2025, 02:48 PM

That's awesome. And I'm sure a great feeling. Thanks for sharing this with everyone!

Could you share any closer pictures of the subject area on your first example?

AHorsa · 15th October 2025, 09:52 PM

What amazing findings Lee! Thank you for sharing and also from my site congrats that the sword shown first is authentic!

Best regards
Andreas

cornelistromp · 16th October 2025, 01:30 PM

Hi Lee, super interesting! Could you please tell me more about the technique used and what all the numbers mean?
The first sword looks good and authentic in the photo, in my humble opinion. What were your concerns there?

vbw, Jasper

Lee · 16th October 2025, 03:24 PM

Thank you Gentlemen!

The numbers on the 'maps' are the points where a reading was taken. I was using an Olympus Vanta handheld XRF device, so the 'points' measured are of about a quarter of an inch in diameter or so. This instrument will download a file of the device's interpretation that may be imported into a spreadsheet for manipulation (as well as the raw spectra data, should one have the skill to interpret that) and I can then note functional location and features and sort the array of readings by that, as the numbers label the lines in the spreadsheet.

It gets overwhelming quickly and the interpretations presented in this thread are merely "was gold detected - yes (a gold dot on the spot) or no. As I prepared this reply I returned to the spreadsheet to get the composition of the latten (medieval brass) of the inlay and then I noted that lead accompanied the gold where it was found. (Fortunately, the Internet led me to an academic paper explaining how this could improve adhesion of the gilding.) By the way, should you be curious, the latten was 65% copper, 34% zinc and 1% lead, rounding to the nearest percent. I will explain more about my methodology when I present my upcoming thread on elements associated with iron inlays and pattern-welding.

My concerns for authenticity arose from 1) I bought this sword in the late 1980s at a gun show in the US admittedly from a British dealer that I had dealt with previously and 2) a few bladesmiths of my acquaintance had expressed concern about what they felt was a lack of robustness of the tang.

16th October 2025, 03:24 PM	#9
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 966	Thank you Gentlemen! The numbers on the 'maps' are the points where a reading was taken. I was using an Olympus Vanta handheld XRF device, so the 'points' measured are of about a quarter of an inch in diameter or so. This instrument will download a file of the device's interpretation that may be imported into a spreadsheet for manipulation (as well as the raw spectra data, should one have the skill to interpret that) and I can then note functional location and features and sort the array of readings by that, as the numbers label the lines in the spreadsheet. It gets overwhelming quickly and the interpretations presented in this thread are merely "was gold detected - yes (a gold dot on the spot) or no. As I prepared this reply I returned to the spreadsheet to get the composition of the latten (medieval brass) of the inlay and then I noted that lead accompanied the gold where it was found. (Fortunately, the Internet led me to an academic paper explaining how this could improve adhesion of the gilding.) By the way, should you be curious, the latten was 65% copper, 34% zinc and 1% lead, rounding to the nearest percent. I will explain more about my methodology when I present my upcoming thread on elements associated with iron inlays and pattern-welding. My concerns for authenticity arose from 1) I bought this sword in the late 1980s at a gun show in the US admittedly from a British dealer that I had dealt with previously and 2) a few bladesmiths of my acquaintance had expressed concern about what they felt was a lack of robustness of the tang. Attached Images

10th October 2025, 05:34 PM	#1
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 966	Yes, indeed, even a blind squirrel occasionally gets a nut and after 40 years of seeking there may even be a small stash. The website did start out especially focused on European Medieval swords. A lonely focus. Daydreaming at a particularly irrelevant (to me) lecture at a professional conference, I developed a desire to advise aspiring collectors that there was a wide variety of exciting artifacts worthy of their attention.

10th October 2025, 06:33 PM	#2
Hotspur Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nipmuc USA Posts: 534	The main resource page is a bookmark I found through the Sir Clisto pages, so many decades ago. I have studied here since. A jewel.

12th October 2025, 11:54 AM	#4
Triarii Member Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: Bristol Posts: 146	This is excellent. The kind of use of technology that takes us away from having to speculate, based upon other finds. Glad that your first sword turned out to be genuine. Love the shape - Oakeshott isn't my thing but it reminds me of the Wallace Collection late C14th A460 which I got my hands on a few months ago.

15th October 2025, 02:48 PM	#6
CSinTX Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 235	That's awesome. And I'm sure a great feeling. Thanks for sharing this with everyone! Could you share any closer pictures of the subject area on your first example?

15th October 2025, 09:52 PM	#7
AHorsa Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Rhineland Posts: 378	What amazing findings Lee! Thank you for sharing and also from my site congrats that the sword shown first is authentic! Best regards Andreas

16th October 2025, 01:30 PM	#8
cornelistromp Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,064	Hi Lee, super interesting! Could you please tell me more about the technique used and what all the numbers mean? The first sword looks good and authentic in the photo, in my humble opinion. What were your concerns there? vbw, Jasper