Transitional, Victorian, Other?

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

I have no idea what this means, but to get to the point I was making, which was that Udo drew a relatively free association comparison of some of the Toledo makers marks ( in Palomares) with the crude device on the OP blade here. In that perspective, there is a marked similarity between the two.

It seems that these crowned devices on either sides of the blade are meant to allude to either earlier makers marks or heraldic devices or both, but as they are added to a sword which does not as yet have supported context, it is hard to determine what they represent .

Since the comparison was made to suggest similarity to Toledo type markings, whether the Toledo mark noted was a letter or interpretation of another device, symbol or image is not necessarily important . It was meant only as an illustration to show similarity. It is however interesting in the notation that Toledo smiths used letters apparently in symbolism outside their normal alphabetic scope. Therefore, though some makers used letters matching their name, many did not so the letters had other meaning......I believe this is what we are both saying.

I agree, the esoterica involved in discussing those circumstances are far out of the scope of this discussion.

As Glen has well pointed out, these crudely applied markings on the OP blade appear to have been added to add character to the sword, and would appear to be artistic interpretations of classical heraldic or possibly makers symbols, or both.
As we cannot know what the artist was intending in these apparently contrived markings, we cannot say what they in fact represent, and suggestions are speculative. Still it is interesting to try to estimate what may be at hand, and discussion is good.

Excellent observation Jim and I would infuse https://www.bing.com/search?q=THE+MA...ESR4N&pc=EUPP_ into the general mix here in terms of decorative style in the motif...noting that the Majescule A does not carry the horizontal line under the V shaped crossbar thus may not be Swiss ...Augsberg is a strong contender but so is reproduction in Gothic style as a sword of the 19th Century. After all what was the question at #1 ?

TRANSITIONAL VICTORIAN OR OTHER ?