foreign influence in european arns production?

[Jim McDougall]

FOUND IT!!!

While poring through loads of material on smallswords in quest of the elusive beaded hilt motif, in J.Aylward's " The Smallsword in England" (1945, p.57), on the smallsword hilts known as 'Tonquinese' (these are elsewhere also termed of the Peking style);

"...made originally in the Far East between 1710 and 1750 to the order of the Dutch East India Company it would seem that the ascription of the work to Tonquinese artists is hardly correct, for while Dampier, for instance, in his "Voyages" ("Dampiers Voyages" Ed. by John Mansfield, 1906) describes all the then manufacturers of Tonquin most closely, he says nothing at all about swords being made there, and it is a historical fact that the Dutch withdrew thier factory from Tonquin in 1707. It is most likely that these weapons were first made for the Dutch factory in Pekin, and it is known that afterwards,

the Company brought over some Chinese workmen to Europe, who produced in Amsterdam hilts of similar character which were fitted with blades made in Holland and in Solingen".

This is the first evidence I have found of 'foreign' workmen being brought into European centers, but it would not seem unusual to find instances elsewhere as well.

All best regards,
Jim

Addendum,
Just found in "Smallswords and Military Swords" (A.V.B. Norman, 1967),
"...Japanese craftsmen were also employed to make hilts for the European market; these were made of the black alloy of copper and gold called shakudo, and partly gilded".
It is noted further on a hilt in the Victoria and Albert Museum mounted by Jan Hosse of Amsterdam seems to be of a group of hilts made for the Dutch East India Company possibly in thier factory at Deshima in Japan".