15th to 16th Century North Italian Edged Weapons and Their Marks
 

All from Boccia/Coelho, Armi Bianche Italiane, 1975, a rather expensive and rare book:

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1952

Best,
Michael

Cinquedeae
 

More.

More cinquedeae.

Typical Cinquedea Marks 'e' on ca. 1520-30 Tusco-Emilian Matchlock Barrels
 

The Gothic miniscule 'e' stands for Emilia, and almost certainly for Gardone, Val Trompia, Tusco-Emilia.

The small snap matchlock arquebus, made in Val Gardone, Tusco-Emilia, in ca. 1520-30, is in my collection (on top in the group of four) - see an earlier thread on this fine piece.

The wheel-lock arquebus of ca. 1540, employing a slightly earlier etched and gilt Tusco-Emilian matchlock barrel (ca. 1520-30), is preserved in the famous Vienna arsenal.

Michael

Another Cinquedea Struck With the 'e' Mark in The Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano
 

Enjoy.

Two Extremely Rare Cinquedeae Sheaths
 

Made of finely tooled and hardened leather decorated in the same style as contemporary late Gothic/early Renaissance book bindings.

Cinquedea Daggers And Their Sheaths
 

Very rare items, too.

Early Venetian Swords, ca. 1460-1500
 

Characteristic types that soon became very common with South German, Swiss and Austrian Landsknechts.

More.

Landsknecht Type Swords, ca. 1500-50
 

These shapes, too, were very soon adopted north of the Alps.

More.

Extremely Rare Trefoliate Pommels, ca. 1500
 

Also very popular with Landsknecht swords (not Katzbalgers).

This is a short and light type of both sword and saber that was often used by arquebusiers as an auxiliary arming. Interestingly enough, the total length of these edged weapons closely corresponded to that of the contemporary arquebuses: ca. 90-95 cm!

More on that topic tomorrow.

Michael

Neat!

Shouldn't this be in the swap section?

Hi fearn,

I am afraid that there is a misunderstanding:

The offer in the link is not mine and that guy states that he sold his book in 2004.

I would never swap or sell my copy neither is my name Nathan Robinson! :cool: :eek:

All this is solely shared for information of the community. :)

Best,
Michael

Bellisimo Maestro!!!!

Michael, welcome back!! Its so good to have you posting again, and thank you for sharing these important details from this hard to acquire book.
It is truly amazing to see how widely the influence of these Italian arms travelled, and how many of these weapons, such as the schiavona developed.
The cinqueda has always been an incredibly intriguing weapon, and it is said that the distinctive pommel of the koummya in Morocco and Algeria derived from those of the cinqueda, probably from early Venetian trade on the North African littoral.
There is clearly a wealth of detail on these markings as well, and thank you for pointing out the 'E' marking, small but profoundly important as its placement on not only the cinqueda but firearms suggests.

Very, very nicely done !

All the best,
Jim

P.S. I'd never sell my copy either!!!! :)

Hi Michael,
Brilliant stuff. :)
My Regards,
Norman.

Mikey, Mikey!

This post is grrrreat!

OTOH, all your posts are great.

Honor a quien honor merece

Best

Manuel

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...anishSteel.gif

Hi Jim and the others,

Thanks a lot for appreciating my article. It tool me two days to scan and then reduce the photos in size.

May I add that the Gothic miniscule 'e' stands for Emilia, and almost certainly for Gardone, Val Trompia, Tusco-Emilia.
It is also known from some spear heads and halberd irons if I am not mistaken.

Mikey (thanks to Manuel!)

Excellent post Micheal (AKA Mikey ;) )

Hi Jim :) ,
notice one of the marks if slightly altered becomes the eyelash mark....started a thread on Ethnograghic
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10871


This mark.....

.

By heavens! You may be onto something there Holmes!!!!!
David, you are truly incredibly astute, and the connection does present distinct possibilities.
I am so glad that Mikey :) posted these pages from this wonderful reference as it really does seem that one of the primary forces in the wider diffusion of weapon forms was that of the trade networks of Northern Italy in those times. You know my long standing fascination with these markings, and it seems that the 'eyelash' (most commonly known as 'sickle' mark) is generally agreed to have originated in Northern Italy probably sometime in the early Renaissance period.
It would seem that it is most likely a guild associated marking, as it is typically congruent to other markings often associated with particular makers rather than a designation for a maker itself.
It was long believed that the markings had begun in Genoa, as it had become associated with trade blades from Genoa and many so marked, but it was as well known in Lucca and other centers as well. What was key was that Genoa was an export port as well as having established colonies in the outer regions of trade networks such as the Black Sea, and from here these blades were diffused widely.
Eventually the markings, in various interpretation, became applied by other European armourers, as well as those in other cultural environments, such as in the Chechen regions (the 'gurda' blades) and in Afghanistan/North India usually on paluoar blades.

This is at least what I have considered plausible thus far, and your observation definitely adds to what seems the true origins of this mysterious marking, in this case used in somewhat more complex grouping.

Thank you so much for adding that, and Michael (aka Mikey :) again for this magnificent thread! The weapons of North Italy present so many avenues for weapons research, and this thread is the perfect benchmark for many discussions, as can be seen by the new thread started by David.

The game is once again afoot! Forward!!!!

All the very best,
Jim

Brilliant, David, thanks!:)

Mikey

A Unique Italian Arquebusier's Auxiliary Armament Light Saber, ca. 1515
 

This has been in my collection for seven years. No other similar saber is known in any museum or private collection.


Ca. 1510-15, retaining natural staghorn grips (maybe a working time replacement) fixed by iron tubular rivets and the single edged blade preserved in its original length but reduced somewhat in width by long and heavy use, the tip double edged; the overall length of the saber is 94 cm. This one may well have seen service at the famous Battle of Pavia in 1525.

Note that the rare trefoil pommel is not riveted but copper soldered to the tang which, together with the two piece staghorn grips fixed with tubular rivets, denotes that this light saber is characteristic cutlery work, just like a Grosses Messer or Seitenwehr (Kurzwehr) - does anyone know the English term - Cornelis? ;)

The item is preserved in virtually 'untouched' condition throughout; the blade is partially pitted and jagged, the hilt retains much of its original blackened surface and is pitted. After I applied olive oil to the iron surfaces (the contemporary so-called tree oil used in armories for hundreds of years) the rust turned to a bluey black which, interestingly enough and according to my experience, is absolutely typical of all ironwork surfaces between roughly ca. 1480 and 1540.

This piece goes perfectly together with my four early 16th century Landsknecht matchlock arquebuses to which it also closely corresponds in its overall length.

Enjoy the pics - I've finally gone digital; a heartfelt 'thanks' goes to Richard for encouraging me - how are you, my friend?:) ;)

Best,
Michael

The rest of the pics.

More to come tomorrow.

Michael

Fine Knightly Swords, Two of Them Dated 1494 and 1499 Respectively
 

On it goes with scans from Armi Bianche Italiane.

The hand and a half sword belonged to the Holy Roman Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I.

Two Swords Dated 1509, of the Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V
 

Enjoy.

Swords of ca. 1500-10
 

Italian Renaissance style at its most refined.

Jousting Lance Mounts and Mail Gloves (Gauntlets?)
 

Very rare, I have never seen an etched lance head (Krönlein) before.

So now, it's Mickey, hein?


.
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/se...smiley-051.gif

Well, it's Miguel to you, Fernando, my friend, anyway! :cool: :eek: :D

Italian Falchions, ca. 1460
 

These are called Malchus swords in German, named after the soldier whose ear was reportedly chopped off by St. Peter at Getsemani.

Two Highly Unusual North Italian Combination Weapons
 

The hammer with the additional snap matchlock ca. 1550, the one combined with a wheel-lock ca. 1530. The rear ends of the stocks are copper soldered hollow iron tubes scheduled to receive the ramrod and fitted with a swiveling cover (see third pic, right).

The mirrored Z shaped ornaments on the nails or screws of the wheel-lock hammer are characteristic of almost all early 16th century ironwork. I attach two photos of an important Nuremberg padlock, ca. 1525-30, formerly in my collection, with the same Z decoration for comparison (see both ends of the bottom bar in the second image).

Now that was a little excerpt from Armi Bianche Italiane.

Best,
Michael