17th January 2014, 05:03 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 35
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A composite sword
Hello,
a friend of mine recently acquired this sword, knowing it's most probably a composite piece. We think the hilt might be possibly 17th century, the blade most probably 19th century. What puzzles us - there are remains of gilding on the blade (as well as on the hilt). So we are wondering why would anyone in the 19th century gild such a blade. Total sword length: 112 cm Blade length: 91 cm Looking forward to your comments and suggestions. Thank you, Matus |
17th January 2014, 06:16 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 35
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more pictures
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17th January 2014, 06:37 PM | #3 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Posts: 9,694
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Nice sword, Matus.
Why do you place the blade in such late period ? I know you have it in your hands, so you can judge better. I can't trace the name GORROCHATEGUI, a Spanish (Basque) name, in my scarce material on swordsmiths, but maybe someone here will. ... Or maybe this was the owner's name, FS being the blade smith's mark |
17th January 2014, 06:40 PM | #4 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Room 101, Glos. UK
Posts: 4,181
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yep, composite. the visible tang looks like it had a piece added so it would fit the grip, ie. it was made for another sword. maybe someone 'repairing' a broken original that was also gilded?
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17th January 2014, 07:16 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 35
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The blade feels really thin and also the "F S" stamp with the grape (?) doesn't look like 17th century.
The overall feel of the sword is also a bit "shaky". |
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