Information on CAINO blades

[mariusgmioc]

Hello,

Can anyone help me please with some information on CAINO swordsmiths?

Regards,

Marius

[fernando]

Marius, you may look at this LINK ; see the attachment below (Courtesy Gyngell) ... and also use the forum "Search" button on Caino .


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[Victrix]

I would love to learn more about this subject, too. Have you seen this https://www.hema-minsk2019.org/base_...bition-part-3?

In the bibliography it mentions a book which sadly is in Italian: Gotti, R., 2011. Caino. Punto Marte, Soligo.

[fernando]

My confusion, then; between famous Italian smith Pietro Caino (Milan) and swords made by masters from Caino (Brescia).

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by fernando

My confusion, then; between famous Italian smith Pietro Caino (Milan) and swords made by masters from Caino (Brescia).

Exactly!

And this appears to be a general confusion not only yours.

Then why would a "Pietro Caino" mark his blades with a crowned "S" or "MS" and not his initial letters?! (see the example in the Metropolitan museum)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/27437

Moreover, I could not find more detailed information about this Pietro Caino so I am wondering if he ever existed, or the "CAINO" marked blades are strictly referring to the city where they were produced (like the blades marked with "Toledo" or "Solingen").

To me, it appears that the CAINO marking on the blades indicates their city of origin, and the additional punched mark the initials of the swordsmith name, that unfortunately is now lost.

[fernando]

Apparently we face two different things.
We can read that, in a project to replicate a XVII century STORTA, the weapon chosen has been a beautiful sword made in Caino (Brescia, Italy) and is attributed to the swordsmith Tomaso Gorgonio Desenzani, owner and master of the Terminello workshop. It is most likely the most complete and genuine extant sword of its type made in Caino.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...Storta_Project.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Victrix

In the bibliography it mentions a book which sadly is in Italian: Gotti, R., 2011. Caino. Punto Marte, Soligo.

This is a spectacular, must-have book for anyone interested in Italian armes-blanches. It can be hard to find, I got my copy at a Czernys auction and find that it was published thanks to sponsorship by that firm; an inquiry with Czernys might lead to a copy for sale somewhere.

Why am I such a fan of it? Here's a synopsis of the subjects covered:
1. Geographical, historical context, with some guild documents verbatim in original Latin and Italian versions.
2. Descriptions of manufacturing processes and establishments, with period illustrations and photos of surviving workshops and residences of the smiths. The interested reader can make comparisons of the work practices described and illustrated herein with published material on equivalent practices in other societies in Europe and Asia prior to the age of mechanization.
3. Classification of the types of blades produced there, and notes on their design as applicable to combat techniques of the 16th-17th cents.
4. Metallurgical study of blades, with chemical analyses and photomicrographs of surfaces and sections of blades produced ca 1575-1630. While lots of attention has been devoted to Eastern sword metallurgy, especially Japanese and Indian, research on the European side has been scanty by comparison and this book, along with the excellent monographs and books by UK researcher Alan Williams, are welcomed steps forward.

Even if you don't read Italian, there is no shortage of illustrations and charts, and the captions in the section on metallurgy should be mostly comprehensible to someone with a reasonable exposure to the language of science.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Philip

...This is a spectacular, must-have book for anyone interested in Italian armes-blanches. It can be hard to find, I got my copy at a Czernys auction and find that it was published thanks to sponsorship by that firm; an inquiry with Czernys might lead to a copy for sale somewhere...

Maybe HERE ?

[NeilUK]

Not much help with information, I'm afraid, but here is my small contribution, another example - a 17th century crab-claw broadsword stamped CAINO in the fuller on both sides of the blade, marked with crosses before and after. I had always assumed the name to be the town of Caino near Brescia but it could well be the bladesmith. There are no other marks