Category: Articles

Here is another posting in a series of articles looking at some of my favourite antique swords…

Over the years, I have come across thousands of unusual and interesting swords and I thought that it would be good to share with you some of the best.  They don’t come in any particular order of merit but check back often as I will be adding more on a regular basis.

Background

This is a very attractive late-17th Century English silver-hilted hanger and is typical of a type that came into vague towards the end of the century and was carried by both infantry and naval officers.  In recent years, it has been most associated with English naval officers as we see a number of these swords depicted in contemporary paintings of English naval officers.

Hilt style

The hallmarked silver hilt has a D-guard knucklebow that is decorated with baroque style figures.  The pommel is heavily decorated with chrubic heads and this theme is continued at the quillon finials.

Blade

The blade is flat-backed, slightly curved and with no fuller(s).  It is also heavily impressed to both sides with a half moon armourer’s stamp.  It is likely that the blade is German (Solingen) in origin as many blades were imported into England at this time where they would have been attached to English-made hilts.

© Musings on my Favourite Antique Swords #2 article by Harvey Withers – harveywithers.com

DO YOU COLLECT ANTIQUE SWORDS?

IF SO, YOU WILL NEED THESE BOOKS!

JUST CLICK ON THE BOOKS FOR MORE DETAILS

Here is the first of a series of articles looking at some of my favourite antique swords…

Over the years, I have come across thousands of unusual and interesting antique swords and I thought that it would be good to share with you some of the best.  They don’t come in any particular order of merit but check back often as I will be adding more on a regular basis.

Background

This interesting ordinary seaman’s naval cutlass was produced in large quantities for the Dutch East India Company (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) in the late-18th Century and is of a type that was manufactured in Solingen, Germany from the early 1700’s right through to the 19th Century.

It is a pretty scarce sword and I have only come across a few examples in many years.  It is of very simple construction and consists of an  iron double shell-guard and open knuckle bow, faceted pommel and turned wooden grip.  The blade is slightly curved and single-edged (double-edged towards the end of the blade) and single-fullered.   The blade is stamped with the VOC company motif and the date of 1787.  The VOC stands for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC – United East India Company – and is found on many of their swords.

Handling the Cutlass

When I first handled the cutlass I was surprised at how light it was and also skeptical as to its effectiveness in battle as the iron shell guards do appear to be quite thin and against a heavy edged weapon, I would not fancy my chances.  Saying that, it was probably a useful weapon if wielded against comparable cutlasses and would also have been light and flexible during an onboard melee.

Pleasing Patina

What I like about this cutlass is the simplicity of design and also the pleasing patina to both hilt and blade – thankfully, it has not been attacked by any abrasives and has retained a great age colour – this is how you want to find original antique swords but unfortunately, most have been cleaned and polished over the years – I don’t blame the original owners – swords, particularly examples with brass fittings, were rarely left alone and if it was a family sword, you wanted to keep it shiny and attractive as a mark of respect and appreciation.

© Musings on my Favourite Antique Swords article #1 by Harvey Withers – harveywithers.com

 DO YOU COLLECT ANTIQUE SWORDS?

IF SO, YOU WILL NEED THESE BOOKS!

JUST CLICK ON THE BOOKS FOR MORE DETAILS