Passau Wolf of Solingen

[urbanspaceman]

Can anybody tell me when the Passau Wolf punzone began and ended being used in Solingen?

[awdaniec666]

End of the 13th up to the 17th century.

[urbanspaceman]

Thank-you, that fits.

[Jim McDougall]

The running wolf has intrigued me for more decades than I can say, and remains one of the most noted blade markings seen on various sword blades.
Passau was once one of the most prolific sword and edged weapon producing centers actually from Roman times, as this had been an encampment for Germanic tribes serving as auxiliary forces for them.

This tradition seems to have prevailed as the location remained a center for the gatherings of mercenary forces through the renaissance and into later centuries. While not exact, it seems that the running wolf had been the symbol of the bishops of Passau since at least the 14th century, and it is important to note that in these times and for centuries, the bishops were essentially those in charge of arms and armor. In times where there were principalities instead of countries, the Diocese was the administrative denominator, so the bishops were in control in a prince-bishop role.

The red wolf was the heraldic symbol for the bishops in the diocese that controlled Passau from those times, and the stylized wolf which was placed on blades, probably in an ordained or authorized sense initially became known to superstitious warriors as a symbol of power and invincibility with divine protection. The use of talismanic symbols and amulets was well known in Passau, and this became one of the most notable in what became known as PASSAU ART.

The practice of emplacing the 'wolf' became an essential and sought after 'trademark' with these talismanic virtues, and perhaps the association of the wolf even before use by the bishops of Passau as significant to Germanic warriors as a totem of fierce power was a significant tradition.

This symbol was important and served equally simply by placement, regardless of the artistic merit of its rendering, in many cases added by less than artistic workers. This is why there are so many variations, some almost indiscernible. Contrary to the implications of Wagner (1967) there was no chronological evolution of the form, and his dated figures in the plates probably reflect the period of the weapons he drew them from.

By the 17th century, the Solingen 'machine' had surpassed Passau in blade production, indeed as in the early 17th c. Archduke Leopold V of Austria was having blades from Solingen brought in for his armorers. While it is thought that the Solingen smiths added the Passau wolf in the sense of a 'brand' for their client, it is possible they had already realized the market value before this. It is well known they used specific phrases, names and markings often intended for certain clientele.

By this time it seems the use of the 'wolf' had waned in Passau, and the symbol had now become virtually a Solingen standard, often placed with 'magic' numbers to augment the talismanic value of the blade. While the use of the wolf in this manner had remained well in place in Solingen through the century it seems to cease largely by the opening of the 18th century aside from perhaps incidental cases.

However the 'power of the wolf' as a quality indicator had become well known and in the regions of the Caucusus, the bladesmiths there having been well exposed to these blades from Black Sea trade began creating their own versions. The blades marked with their spurious versions became locally known as 'ters maymal' , a term which defies known etymology as far as I know.

The 'wolf' also became well known applied in blade markings with the endeavor of bringing German smiths to England to Hounslow (outside London) in the 1630s. While numbers of blades attributed to these German smiths at Hounslow have the wolf marking, it is unclear just how many were actually blades brought in from Solingen and so marked.

After the English Civil Wars had dissipated the Hounslow shops, by latter 17th century another project using the same concept of German smiths began at Shotley Bridge in northern England, however with a most mysterious and clouded agenda. Here again there was a degree of importing German blades which were finished there, and some of course still used the wolf.
However, it seems that the Shotley smiths cleverly adopted a most English counterpart to the wolf..........what became termed by Keith in his landmark studies and work on Shotley as the 'Bushy Tailed Fox' (BTF).

It may be disputed on how this more artistic figure became a noted symbol which superceded the wolf, with suggestions it was a parody toward it, or perhaps a more defined nod to the long standing tradition (from Shakespeare) using the term 'fox' for a fine sword. Whatever the case, the wolf had established another incarnation in England, though metaphorically.

The most pronounced occurrence of the Shotley fox seems to have been with the swords of Samuel Harvey in Birmingham, who apparently added his initials SH to the figure. It would appear he was getting blades from the Oley's, now the dominant figures maintaining Shotley after its nominal demise in the early years around 1700. This may explain why many of the blades with the fox do not have initials.

So basically, that is my take on this, and I just wanted to write it out.
The images show the Wagner plate with variations; the red wolf heraldic
a image from Oakeshott where there appears to be some early variation regarded as a 'unicorn' (?) which has not been fully explored.
We know that the Romans in these regions did apply highly stylized images of virtually indiscernible creatures on blades in a few cases.

The 1620 image of a fox from Steyr is a bit of a mystery, but Steyr was an arms location in Austria with far less attention, so unclear on this.

[urbanspaceman]

I was reading the Mortuary Sword section of Stuart Mowbray's book this morning and came across this:
The blade on one of the Cromwell swords from the Cromwell museum is marked Clemens Wilms : Solingen as well as Andria Ferara.
Needs thinking about, but seems proof positive that the blade was labeled Andria Ferara by the trader, probably because the Clemens Wilms name was not significant enough to hype up the quality.
As I said, needs thinking about because I suspect this was always the case. I know that early 1700s, here in the UK, Birmingham smiths were using false markings. The Cutlers Company were forever trying to prevent this but... It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that they were falsely using the Bushy Tailed Fox and not buying blade blanks from Shotley Bridge, although I suspect not.