Unique and Impressive Two Handed Sword

[Lee]

Originally Posted by cornelistromp

...Provenance says a lot about medieval swords because 99.9% of the fakes are made after 2000...

Perhaps I'd roll this observation back about an order of magnitude, to 99%. On a couple of occasions I have had experienced museum curators confide to me that more than a few of the most iconic (and beloved) medieval swords in some very well regarded museum collections are, at the very best, 19th century enhancements and composites. (Technical examination has also raised concerns about some examples in my own collection with earlier reliable provenance.)

As to the subject of this thread, it is an amazingly proficient piece of work and the forging artifacts and patina are most convincing to me from looking at the photos, but I am not competent to judge as to whether 19th versus 16th century.