A sail guard sword - blade for ID

M ELEY · 20th July 2014, 09:11 PM

Hi Fernando,
Per our discussion, I'm still apt to believe that a piece like yours (beautiful, BTW) might have seen later sea service. Ivory grips, while unpopular on dueling pieces, were common on naval swords, dirks, etc. The same argument goes for solid brass hilts (unpopular for cavalry and infantry due to slippage from blood runoff, but common on naval pieces). Prior to the late 18th century, when patterns began to develop in the navies of the world, an officer carried whatever he pleased. The shell motif is a tip of the hat to my notes on Annis (usage of nautical themes being popular with naval use). Likewise, we pinpointed that such swords did indeed go to sea, both as officer's preference and along with Spanish/Portuguese soldiers on the Treasure Fleets and otherwise. The fact that the grip was replaced with ivory or bone in the 18th could be an indication of naval use, specifically to identify 'officer status and rank', as so many of the later swords and dirks would in the following century. As a classic example (though English), please see Captain Philip Broke's (H.M.S. Shannon) 17th c. Scottish broadsword refitted with with ivory grips, per the style.

Jim, you are right about the curious markings on the German blade. As the blade is earlier, any chance these could be cabalistic in nature? Reminds me of some of those odd symbols and number patterns on Dutch blades?

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20th July 2014, 09:11 PM	#9
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Hi Fernando, Per our discussion, I'm still apt to believe that a piece like yours (beautiful, BTW) might have seen later sea service. Ivory grips, while unpopular on dueling pieces, were common on naval swords, dirks, etc. The same argument goes for solid brass hilts (unpopular for cavalry and infantry due to slippage from blood runoff, but common on naval pieces). Prior to the late 18th century, when patterns began to develop in the navies of the world, an officer carried whatever he pleased. The shell motif is a tip of the hat to my notes on Annis (usage of nautical themes being popular with naval use). Likewise, we pinpointed that such swords did indeed go to sea, both as officer's preference and along with Spanish/Portuguese soldiers on the Treasure Fleets and otherwise. The fact that the grip was replaced with ivory or bone in the 18th could be an indication of naval use, specifically to identify 'officer status and rank', as so many of the later swords and dirks would in the following century. As a classic example (though English), please see Captain Philip Broke's (H.M.S. Shannon) 17th c. Scottish broadsword refitted with with ivory grips, per the style. Jim, you are right about the curious markings on the German blade. As the blade is earlier, any chance these could be cabalistic in nature? Reminds me of some of those odd symbols and number patterns on Dutch blades?