Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

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

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 14th September 2024, 09:14 AM   #1
AHorsa
Member
 
AHorsa's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rhineland
Posts: 366
Default Looking for a source of sword (pommel) xrays

Dear all,

does anyone of you know a source of xrays of medieval iron sword pommels (from 1000AD+ on)? Or maybe has some images from his own research and would share?

I would be very happy

kind regards
Andreas

Last edited by AHorsa; 14th September 2024 at 09:33 AM.
AHorsa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14th September 2024, 03:38 PM   #2
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
Jim McDougall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,928
Default

Interesting topic Andreas!
What exactly are you seeking as far as this subject matter? What resources have you already consulted? This is good to know so we can be aware of 'roads already traveled' to avoid redundancy. It also serves as a benchmark for various venues that have presented material on this subject.

One I found online was in "Studies in Conservation" Vol.61,2016, issue 2
"X-Ray Computed Tomography for Non Destructive Analysis of Early Medieval Swords". It seems to be in German , but I did not open it.
Jim McDougall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 15th September 2024, 09:00 AM   #3
AHorsa
Member
 
AHorsa's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rhineland
Posts: 366
Default

Thank you for your response, Jim and thanky for the link. Will request to get the pdf from the author.

I like to see differences in the pommel holes fitting the tang (tight fitting vs. asymmetrical wide hole). My ressources are two own images and one I found in an paper online: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/...fig5_348050747
Interestingly here the author assumes that in this case the pommel could be mass production and the wide hole later been fitted for the certain blade / tang.
AHorsa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 15th September 2024, 02:28 PM   #4
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
Jim McDougall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,928
Default

My pleasure Andreas, and I wish I could add more but this area is far out of my fields of study. Its a great approach to learning more on the fabrication of swords of these times, and I know there have been numerous looks into this but as part of the larger scope of tomography on swords.

It seems this is a relatively new concept, as I recall years back when Dr. Cyril Mazansky was writing his book on British basket hilts, he was already known for using non destructive tomography on a basket hilt found in an early shipwreck, I believe it was the 'Sea Venture". The wreck itself was the foundation of the Shakespeare drama "The Tempest".

I know that in the 17th century onward (and likely earlier) swords themselves were essentially assembled from components which were fashioned by other artisans, and by cutlers, sword slippers and the like. The blades were of course from blade makers and might be from these locally or imported depending on circumstances.
The pommels were typically made by individual makers so in times before standardization there must have been some alteration required.

It seems of course over the years many swords have come up with atypical pommels. AVB Norman in 1980 ("The Rapier and Smallsword 1400-1820) wrote and illustrated a categoric study of pommel forms, illustrating their common period of use as a guideline.

So it seems your line of thinking is well placed, and I look forward to your observations as your research continues.

All the best
Jim
Jim McDougall 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 09:40 AM.


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.