Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Marc · 15th August 2008, 02:24 PM

I'm afraid that the final aspect of the patination/corrosion is an exclusive result of the unique environmental conditions under which that particular item has been. I've personally seen 17th c. rapier blades 100% mineralized, as well as Roman gladii ready to be hilted and used again. Environmental conditions and restoration processes are everything, in this regard.
Not to mention that patination is one of the first skills any arms & armour dealer, with any aspiration of success, acquires... as do collectors, as well

I don't mean that the state of the surface corrosion is, of course, something to be ignored, by any means, but it's just another of the tools we have to use when evaluating a piece, and must be approached with all the necessary cautions. It can also be among the hardest things to assess through the use of photographs...
By the way, I think David can be onto something very interesting... the part of the blade corresponding to the inscription is not only cleaner but it seems that it's also slightly "narrower", edge-to-edge wise, (“waisted”, if you want) as if it has been slightly ground down. That made me think that in fact this inscription can be a "creative reconstruction" of a previous one, partly erased due to the initial corrosion plus not having been struck too deeply to start with. After the clean-up, some "artistic license" may have been applied with the remaining "strokes". Following this line of thought, my candidate for the original inscription would be a perfectly common, given the period and the typology, "IN ALAMANIA" ("in Germany", as a reference of the place of production).

P.D. Fernando, you give too much credit to my knowledge and far too little to your own, I'm afraid. But I appreciate your kind words anyway. You're a Cabaleiro.

15th August 2008, 02:24 PM	#12
Marc Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madrid / Barcelona Posts: 256	I'm afraid that the final aspect of the patination/corrosion is an exclusive result of the unique environmental conditions under which that particular item has been. I've personally seen 17th c. rapier blades 100% mineralized, as well as Roman gladii ready to be hilted and used again. Environmental conditions and restoration processes are everything, in this regard. Not to mention that patination is one of the first skills any arms & armour dealer, with any aspiration of success, acquires... as do collectors, as well I don't mean that the state of the surface corrosion is, of course, something to be ignored, by any means, but it's just another of the tools we have to use when evaluating a piece, and must be approached with all the necessary cautions. It can also be among the hardest things to assess through the use of photographs... By the way, I think David can be onto something very interesting... the part of the blade corresponding to the inscription is not only cleaner but it seems that it's also slightly "narrower", edge-to-edge wise, (“waisted”, if you want) as if it has been slightly ground down. That made me think that in fact this inscription can be a "creative reconstruction" of a previous one, partly erased due to the initial corrosion plus not having been struck too deeply to start with. After the clean-up, some "artistic license" may have been applied with the remaining "strokes". Following this line of thought, my candidate for the original inscription would be a perfectly common, given the period and the typology, "IN ALAMANIA" ("in Germany", as a reference of the place of production). P.D. Fernando, you give too much credit to my knowledge and far too little to your own, I'm afraid. But I appreciate your kind words anyway. You're a Cabaleiro.