Victorian Wall Decoration?

Robert · 27th January 2009, 05:45 PM

Hi Gene, The POB is in front of the actual crossbar quillons. I don't think that the blade has been shortened BWDIK. I will post a picture of the tip of the blade but I will have to do it inside with a flash. As far as the solder goes I don't think it is lead solder (it is way to hard) but it could be the remains of some kind of silvering. Could this be some kind of silver solder, or was silver solder even used then? Like I said it is only where the knotted sections are. The main part of the curling bars and the actual crossbar quillons and the rest are all one piece. Could the knots have been added later as decoration? I too was hoping that Manuel would post some pictures and measurements of his sword for comparison. Thanks again and I will post pictures shortly.

Robert

Atlantia · 27th January 2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Coleman

Hi Gene, The POB is in front of the actual crossbar quillons. I don't think that the blade has been shortened BWDIK. I will post a picture of the tip of the blade but I will have to do it inside with a flash. As far as the solder goes I don't think it is lead solder (it is way to hard) but it could be the remains of some kind of silvering. Could this be some kind of silver solder, or was silver solder even used then? Like I said it is only where the knotted sections are. The main part of the curling bars and the actual crossbar quillons and the rest are all one piece. Could the knots have been added later as decoration? I too was hoping that Manuel would post some pictures and measurements of his sword for comparison. Thanks again and I will post pictures shortly.

Robert

Well, from what is visible in the pictures, there is considerable work in those bars, and the main ones seem to be 'forged' and shaped, so it might just be that the secondary elements were attached with some kind of silver coloured braze or hard solder as the maker thought that adequate for their level of stress.

Take a couple of close ups of the bars if your can too mate.

Robert · 27th January 2009, 06:55 PM

Gene, Here are the best ones I could get inside. A little picture intensive so if this is to many mods please let me know and I will delete as many as needed. These give a good idea of how the guard is put together. As I mentioned earlier the only parts that are not forged together are the knotted pieces. I made a typing error on the POB, it was supposed to be 5-3/4 inches so I double checked it and it is actually 6 inches.

Robert

kisak · 27th January 2009, 09:57 PM

Expanding on what Manuel said, this type of blade is seen on a number of Swedish heavy cavalry swords from the 18th century (and a few cavalry swords from the early parts of said century as well). To provide some examples I'm attaching a close-up of an m/1773 (colour), and a scanned full-length shot of an m/1775 for Småland's cavalry regiment (b&w).

These two would have slightly shorter blades than Coleman's, but there are other, similar models with blades matching very well (m/1761 and m/1778 for Västgöta' cavalry regiment, and then of course there's the possibility of an officer custom-ordering something). I have pretty much no idea at all if, and then to what extent, this blade shape saw use outside of Sweden.

As for the overall package, it looks very much to me like assembled in the 19th century as a decorative.

Robert · 28th January 2009, 12:03 AM

Kisak, Thank you very much for posting the pictures of the two swords. I do agree that the blades do look strikingly similar and this could very possible be a Swedish blade . Could you please tell me where the stampings on their blades are as I have been over and over this blade with no luck finding any markings at all. If most blades of this age were marked (I supposed they were ?) maybe if I knew were to look and with better light and a magnifying glass I might be able to find something. The other thing that I'm wondering about is the length of the hilt on my sword. The sword handles very well one handed but with the length of the hilt a two handed grip is very comfortable and greatly improves how it handles. I know absolutely nothing about this type of sword so everything I say is pure speculation on my part. Another question is would they have gone to all the trouble of putting the engraving on the pommel and collars if this was just to hang on a wall? I am only asking questions to learn, I am not disputing anything that has been offered in reference to this sword as I know things were done quite differently even 50 years ago. Again I thank you for your interest and help in trying to identifying this .

Robert

Atlantia · 28th January 2009, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Coleman

Kisak, Thank you very much for posting the pictures of the two swords. I do agree that the blades do look strikingly similar and this could very possible be a Swedish blade . Could you please tell me where the stampings on their blades are as I have been over and over this blade with no luck finding any markings at all. If most blades of this age were marked (I supposed they were ?) maybe if I knew were to look and with better light and a magnifying glass I might be able to find something. The other thing that I'm wondering about is the length of the hilt on my sword. The sword handles very well one handed but with the length of the hilt a two handed grip is very comfortable and greatly improves how it handles. I know absolutely nothing about this type of sword so everything I say is pure speculation on my part. Another question is would they have gone to all the trouble of putting the engraving on the pommel and collars if this was just to hang on a wall? I am only asking questions to learn, I am not disputing anything that has been offered in reference to this sword as I know things were done quite differently even 50 years ago. Again I thank you for your interest and help in trying to identifying this .

Robert

Hi Robert.

Its difficult to judge these swords.
Manuel and Kisak certainly seem to have found the type of blade.
I would be very interested to see if someone can provide some exact measurements for comparison.

Its certainly an unusual combination, as the handle is unusually long but is swept hilt style and the blade is unusually heavy and of course the swept hilt was long out of favour by the 18th/19THc.

I'd be tempted to take the story you were told at face value and think its a rather strange colonial hybrid.
Its a strange one to label.

I just noticed you mention silver/aluminium paint on the hilt when you got it?
Is that whats in the crevases of the hilt bars?

One thought.
If the blade is a reuse from one of these military swords then the tang must have been extended or it doesn't go to the end of the long handle.

No movement on the pommel is there?

kisak · 28th January 2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlantia

I would be very interested to see if someone can provide some exact measurements for comparison.

As measurements varied quite a bit between swords of the same model, here's a few different measurements from Svenska Blankvapen del 2 and White Arms of the Royal Armoury.

m/1761: Blade length 100.2 cm, width at the base 4.5cm
m/1775: 94.8/5 cm
m/1775: 92.5/4.4 cm
m/1778: 101.3/4.5 cm
m/1778: 100/4.4 cm, 1350g (No weight given for the others.)

The m/1778 is supposed to be an m/1775 with part of the basket cut off, which is why I included it here.

kisak · 28th January 2009, 01:59 AM

From what I can recall it wouldn't be very rare for these blades to be without stamps actually, though I've never really though about looking for stamps and such when I've seen such swords at auctions, etc, so I'm not too sure.

The length of the hilt is indeed quite a bit, if the blade comes from one of these Swedish swords, then the tang would have been lengthened as well in the process.

Regarding the handling, these heavy cavalry swords are big, sturdy things, so their blades wouldn't be entierly out of place with a two-handed grip (as we can see here). As a curiosity I'm also reminded of George Silver recommending the same blade length for one handed and two handed swords.

And as for the engravings, they could simply be there to make it sell better (decorative work on a decorative thing). If we look at "tourist" versions of the various ethnographic weapons, they are often very heavily decorated (though I assume generally decorated in ways which won't take too much time or skill to produce), to make the customers open their wallets. The same could be the case here.

27th January 2009, 06:55 PM	#3
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Gene, Here are the best ones I could get inside. A little picture intensive so if this is to many mods please let me know and I will delete as many as needed. These give a good idea of how the guard is put together. As I mentioned earlier the only parts that are not forged together are the knotted pieces. I made a typing error on the POB, it was supposed to be 5-3/4 inches so I double checked it and it is actually 6 inches. Robert Attached Images

27th January 2009, 09:57 PM	#4
kisak Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 182	Expanding on what Manuel said, this type of blade is seen on a number of Swedish heavy cavalry swords from the 18th century (and a few cavalry swords from the early parts of said century as well). To provide some examples I'm attaching a close-up of an m/1773 (colour), and a scanned full-length shot of an m/1775 for Småland's cavalry regiment (b&w). These two would have slightly shorter blades than Coleman's, but there are other, similar models with blades matching very well (m/1761 and m/1778 for Västgöta' cavalry regiment, and then of course there's the possibility of an officer custom-ordering something). I have pretty much no idea at all if, and then to what extent, this blade shape saw use outside of Sweden. As for the overall package, it looks very much to me like assembled in the 19th century as a decorative. Attached Images

27th January 2009, 05:45 PM	#1
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Hi Gene, The POB is in front of the actual crossbar quillons. I don't think that the blade has been shortened BWDIK. I will post a picture of the tip of the blade but I will have to do it inside with a flash. As far as the solder goes I don't think it is lead solder (it is way to hard) but it could be the remains of some kind of silvering. Could this be some kind of silver solder, or was silver solder even used then? Like I said it is only where the knotted sections are. The main part of the curling bars and the actual crossbar quillons and the rest are all one piece. Could the knots have been added later as decoration? I too was hoping that Manuel would post some pictures and measurements of his sword for comparison. Thanks again and I will post pictures shortly. Robert

28th January 2009, 12:03 AM	#5
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Kisak, Thank you very much for posting the pictures of the two swords. I do agree that the blades do look strikingly similar and this could very possible be a Swedish blade . Could you please tell me where the stampings on their blades are as I have been over and over this blade with no luck finding any markings at all. If most blades of this age were marked (I supposed they were ?) maybe if I knew were to look and with better light and a magnifying glass I might be able to find something. The other thing that I'm wondering about is the length of the hilt on my sword. The sword handles very well one handed but with the length of the hilt a two handed grip is very comfortable and greatly improves how it handles. I know absolutely nothing about this type of sword so everything I say is pure speculation on my part. Another question is would they have gone to all the trouble of putting the engraving on the pommel and collars if this was just to hang on a wall? I am only asking questions to learn, I am not disputing anything that has been offered in reference to this sword as I know things were done quite differently even 50 years ago. Again I thank you for your interest and help in trying to identifying this . Robert

28th January 2009, 01:59 AM	#8
kisak Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 182	From what I can recall it wouldn't be very rare for these blades to be without stamps actually, though I've never really though about looking for stamps and such when I've seen such swords at auctions, etc, so I'm not too sure. The length of the hilt is indeed quite a bit, if the blade comes from one of these Swedish swords, then the tang would have been lengthened as well in the process. Regarding the handling, these heavy cavalry swords are big, sturdy things, so their blades wouldn't be entierly out of place with a two-handed grip (as we can see here). As a curiosity I'm also reminded of George Silver recommending the same blade length for one handed and two handed swords. And as for the engravings, they could simply be there to make it sell better (decorative work on a decorative thing). If we look at "tourist" versions of the various ethnographic weapons, they are often very heavily decorated (though I assume generally decorated in ways which won't take too much time or skill to produce), to make the customers open their wallets. The same could be the case here.