Small Sword Dutch or French

[Cathey]

Hi

Picked up this small sword recently and whilst the blade id hexagonal not uncommon on some Dutch examples, this style also pops up on British, German and French small swords. The blade is engraved with the motto Pro Deo Et Religione vera (latin: For God and the true religion). This sounds rather catholic to me which is making me lean towards France, Italy or perhaps Spain. It is unmarked silver with an ivory grip that appears original to the sword, no signs of it having been taken apart. I am thinking it probably dates around 1740.

Nay thoughts on its age and origin considering the religious slogan would be most appreciated.

Cheers Cathey

[Hotspur]

A beautiful sword! The reeded grip is something we start to see a bit later. A feature that carries on through the 19th century. The ivory looks like old Russian mammoth. Brown bark.

Cheers
GC

[Radboud]

What a lovely smallsword Cathey, that motto is a fantastic feature. Personally I think its’ presence means that France can be excluded as the origin. To me it says “I’m catholic and proud of it”, in a countries like France, Spain or Italy, this would have been a forgone conclusion and not something that needs to be said.

I my view, this motto assumes that the wearer lived in a country where there was tension between the catholics and (presumably) protestants. Such as the British Isles, The Netherlands or the German states. With the addition of the ivory grips, I think it leans towards the British Isles, possibly the English and Scottish border?

[Cathey]

Hi Hotspur and Radboud

Interesting thoughts, I confess I have not see Latin used on swords from Germany or the Netherlands and I agree it appear to be a very Catholic moto. The hilt is solid silver but not hall marked suggesting it was made as a special order according to AYLWARD-J-D The Small Sword in England Pp 93.

The use of Ivory did make me think Dutch or perhaps Hotspur is correct and could be Russian, but this Catholic Latin inscription does not seem to fit with either Holland or Russia. The photos were taken before the sword was cleaned, silver is easier to photograph when its not too bright.

Cheers Cathey

[Jim McDougall]

A very breathtaking small sword, and not at all surprising that Cathey's discerning eye puts it with her amazing holdings.

Actually the Latin motto, 'Pro Deo et Religione Vera' has to do with the teachings and following of St.Augustine of Hippo 354-430AD (this was an area in Algeria). Most of this I simply found online, but apparently his following was not confined to the Catholic Faith, but also to Eastern Orthodox (Greek Orthodox) and Lutheran Faiths.

Perhaps this particular phrase or motto might have applied to one of the fraternal or military orders? The character of this religious phrase IMO does not confine the blade or sword to a particular nationality or country as these followings transcended geographic boundaries.

The note on the fact that this hilt, despite being silver, is not hallmarked. As Cathey notes, Aylward (1945) does mention this absence of hallmarks (p.69); "...their absence almost certainly means the hilt was made to the order of its original owner".
He notes further that though technically outside the law, it seemed unnecessary to submit the work to a touch-warden if the bullion was supplied by the client himself.

What I think is important about this absence of touch mark, perhaps the client who had this hilt made used an important heirloom or item of key importance in a reliquary sense to furnish bullion? Obviously this sword has religious and highly symbolic value, so this does not seem far fetched.

The style of the hilt corresponds to those in vogue in England 1720s-1740s which of course is hardly defined by that period alone.
There were apparently numbers of French Huguenots who had fled to England after the revoking of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and it is tempting to think this might account for a sword of this character without a touchmark as well.

With the reeded ivory grip, while this type grip became popular in France and America in the 18th century, it was well known on rapiers of Spain and the Netherlands in the mid 17th c. The sources of ivory included a number of places along with the Russian mammoth variety, with the narwhals often providing material to India and Central Asia and elephants from Africa.
It has always amazed me that these can be identified from photos as I dont know these specifics.
Whatever the case, IMO the material used regardless of source does not necessarily confine the provenance of the weapon embellished with it to that area.

[Cathey]

Thanks Jim

I thought I might review each component of the sword by way of trying to ascertain its manufacture and have come up with the following:

• The blade is hexagonal which is often seen in Dutch, British, French and German small swords;
• Regarding the shell guards which I originally thought had the usual Greek Mythological themes, One shell guard features a seated man under what might be a tree laden with fruit (perhaps representing Adam) flanked by two creatures and with two doves above his head looking in both directions and eyes apparent;
• The other Shell guards features a women seated under the same tree full of fruit, reaching to take one (Perhaps representing eve taking the apple) flanked again by two creatures and with two doves above but this time with there heads bowed down and hidden. If these are representations of Adam and Eve it would be in keeping with the religious theme;
• The Ricasso features a seated man flaked by two Monster or Eagle heads and the quillon terminates in a swan curled around the end;
• The figure in the centre of the guard appears to be wearing an odd skirt, from the rear it is clear he has a cross belt across his back and A band around his head featuring a large feather. No idea what he is holding;
• The pommels feature an arrangement of figures including pan playing flute, swans, a seated man, seated women, standing figure robbed etc, hanging fruit and other foliage.

Not sure if any of this helps of course.

[Radboud]

I love the detail there Cathy. Although I'm not sure I see a christian theme there. Some of my observations:
1. Both figures are seated surrounded what look like acanthus leaf, which were picked up in 18th-century neo-classical art. Acanthus has multiple meanings, enduring life, immortality or in some christian tradition pain, sin and punishment.
2. The animals on either side of the figures have curled rams horns.
3. Next to the man they face him with his bodies, but turn their heads away, while next to the woman they have their backs turned but heads towards her.
4. The animals next to the man appear to have wings and monkey tails while the other pair do not.

Unfortuantly I don't know what they mean either, but I'm sure there is a significance to them and they would have told a story to the original owner.

[Interested Party]

An alternate cast of characters would be Pluto and Persephony. With the figure in the knuckle bow being a Caryatid. I guess the question is do you see the fruits as apples or pomegranates??

Thanks for the detailed photos!

[Jim McDougall]

Cathey, thank you for the further details, and all additional observations and perspectives always help. These kinds of allegorical themes are typically an entire conundrum, as we cannot know which contexts they may be aligned with. A Christian connotation may not specifically denote Catholic, as noted in that various other denominations of Christianity also follow the teachings of St.Augustine; Greek Orthodox; Lutheran.

It is important to note that there were tensions and strife even within certain religious factions,for example even in later times within the Lutheran church between 'synods' or branches. I am not sure that certain phraseology or mottos in Latin align particularly with a certain nationality, though of course sometimes the character of the wording might differ slightly it seems. Whatever the case, the Latin orientation in the Catholic manner of well known mottos or invocations would transcend nationality as far as use on blades.

It seems also that the blades themselves were of course typically German, that is most often Solingen, so were mounted in the swords of most European nations including the Netherlands, France and England. What is notable is this hexagonal blade form seems unusual for smallswords, which typically had hollow ground triple face blades. Blades of this section it seems were usually on heavier blades, but obviously that may not entirely be the case.

So basically it is down to trying to determine if the character of the intricate neoclassical and allegorical theme might have some specific alignment either nationally or with a certain group or following. Neoclassicism was of course an artistic movement that again transcended nationality in Europe in the 18th century and used allegoric with both Greek and Roman origin.

Possibly there might be clues in Bashford Dean (1928)?
The small sword genre is literally wrought with these kinds of conundrums as the basic form was so collectively used, and only decoration and nuanced elements of the hilt typically offer possible categorization.

[Cathey]

Hi Interested Party, yes could be Pluto and Persephony, they might be pomegranates not apples. This would fit with Pan making a brief appearance on the pommel perhaps. Cheers Cathey

[Jim McDougall]

You guys are much better at all the classic iconography and mythology than I am (by far!) but it seems the neoclassic theme in the hilt artistry is pretty universal throughout Europe in this period. The style of the hilt, as transcendent as small sword hilts are, at best guess in end of first quarter 18th c.+.

For me what is most notable is the blade and grip style. The fluted (reeded) ivory is as previously noted something seen on 17th c. Iberian rapiers, mostly Spanish it seems. It was by no means prevalent, but something that was indeed seen on occasion, and by that token, likely prestigious. With the potential for the ivory to be perhaps mammoth from Siberian regions, and the diplomatic relations between the Russian and Bourbon courts, this seems a likely possibility.

With the blade, this seems again, a Spanish preference (dos mesas, as I think Fernando told me once was the term). These hexagonal sections prevailed on heavier dragoon blades about mid 18th c.+ in Spain (I think of the noted 'Spanish motto' blades).

The motto tends to the following of St. Augustine and while Christian, does not denote Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant in particular as far as I can see.
In the Spanish Netherlands, which may be the origin of this sword, such a motto would not define any specific Faith IMO, thus would not be defined despite the well noted strife between Catholic and Protestant there.

I searched through Bashford Dean (1929) and did not find any comparable themes nor any example with reeded ivory grip. As this comprehensive source covers examples from all European countries including Russia, it can be seen this sword is a unique anomaly, and certainly privately commissioned for a person of high status.

[Radboud]

Personally I think the reeded ivory grip lends towards English origin. There is an abundance of late 18th Century English spadroons (of the type loosely grouped as the 1786 pattern but they certainly predate this.) that have near identical grips.

Such as this one from my collection:

[Cathey]

Hi Guys

To be honest the grip is one of the reasons I almost did not buy this sword, the reeded ivory just did not seem right on a small sword. Looking at the the sword it certainly appears to be the original grip, no sign of it ever having been dismantled. Cheers Cathey

[Cathey]

Hi Guys

I have now found three other small swords with this motto and they are all Italian, no ivory grips though. Cheers Cathey

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Cathey

Hi Guys

I have now found three other small swords with this motto and they are all Italian, no ivory grips though. Cheers Cathey

Thats outstanding Cathey!!! Were they in one source? I would like to find a reference on small swords that is a bit more comprehensive.....Dean and Aylward seem a bit limited.

The ivory grips are a conundrum, truly not often seen on small swords...Im REALLY glad you got this one......it is truly unique!

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Radboud

Personally I think the reeded ivory grip lends towards English origin. There is an abundance of late 18th Century English spadroons (of the type loosely grouped as the 1786 pattern but they certainly predate this.) that have near identical grips.

Such as this one from my collection:

Very nice spadroon!
These 1786 suggested form swords typically for infantry and naval officers might indeed have evolved before that, as often the case with regulation 'patterns'.
I am curious about these reeded ivory grips and when they might have begun appearing in England. In my apparently limited exposure to British sword details, I am unaware of these type grips used on hilts until these spadroons and of course naval swords in the last quarter 18th c.

Where do you suppose the influence or inspiration for this styled ivory grip came from? As I had mentioned, I have seen this on Spanish rapier hilts but certainly not commonly.

As the English were often notably influenced by Dutch design etc. in swords (and of course many areas) is it possible that the use of ivory styled in this manner might have come via influences from Spanish Netherlands?

It seems this small sword falls into the hilt stylings of 1730s-50s, but the blade in hexagonal section recalls Spanish blades of later in the century.
The small sword blades, though favoring Colichemarde blades 1690s-1740s but the more common hollow ground three edge blades were more typical.

These are the factors notable in determination of the identification of this sword.....and has Cathey has noted in her recent post, she has found three small swords with this motto on the blade, all Italian.
While not having ivory hilts, it should be noted that many Italian states were provincially Spanish under the Bourbons, and arms and armor moved through these regions accordingly.