Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > European Armoury

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 10th June 2012, 02:26 PM   #1
christek
Member
 
christek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 52
Default Spanish sword ID help

Hello friends,
I am a new collector and hope to learn about and collect many swords. This piece is my first Western sword (I also have two tulwars). From what I can learn online, this sword appears to be a 1875 Spanish Officers sword. In my mind, it appears a little elaborate to be a proper fighting weapon, and it does not appear to match (in fighting qualities) some British and French officer swords of the same period. Could it be a ceremonial sword? Or am I wrong about everything here?
Attached Images
     
christek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10th June 2012, 05:50 PM   #2
fernando
Lead Moderator European Armoury
 
fernando's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Posts: 9,620
Default

Not such a surprise that your Espadin (small sword) does not have the look of a fighting weapon. Remember that in 1875 (even before) swords were already superseded by firearms and thus confined to ceremonial purposes; even in some cases and countries certain models kept having a less decorative and more lethal look.
fernando is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11th June 2012, 02:07 AM   #3
christek
Member
 
christek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 52
Default

Hi Fernando, thank you for the reply.

Yes that makes sense, there were even quite effective revolvers around at this period, which would have made the swords task a secondary one or to be used as a last resort in battle. I have found some old photos of Spanish Officers from the period 1885-1900 and their swords look very similar to my one.

1.Volunteer Light Infantry Captain: 1st. Company, Voluntarios de Matanzas, Cuba 1885-98

2 (with some colour) Volunteer Light Infantry Officer: Unidentified Company, Voluntarios de Matanzas, Cuba 1885-98
Attached Images
  
christek is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:19 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.