American Eagle Head Sabre

Hotspur · 8th November 2012, 04:45 PM

You are welcome Jim. Eagles are pretty much a passion for me and while the later swords less recognized at times, a period I try to make sense of. Both the floating big crested and backstrap big head show up in British guise but I am certain many of the castings start in Solingen.

The example I showed with the backstrap has the mouth opened up but the profile of the big heads undeniably similar between backstrap and floaters.

Here is a floating pommel like Norman's that is similar to the A.W.Spies of New York swords. Spies was an apprentice as a teen in the Wolfe family shop of New York. He then went abroad to Birmingham and learned the business of export as well as cutlery but he was mostly interested in the import to his business which would blossom on his own.

There is some information I am compiling about Spies and had at one point started a thread over at SFI. I have some false conclusions of my own even in that thread but the framework is there.
http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...les-and-others

So anyway, a big head floater ala Spies and Salter, undoubtedly from England but we know Solingen is makeing birds like this. I have several Spies marked backstrap examples and the big head floating pommels seem to be a lot less common to find. I can't say that makes them earlier or later but they were (perhaps) to mimic the screaming eagles of Ames which had floating pommels and the spiral or slash marked grips. The Ames artillery sabres and infantry spadroons are of this period.

I will add some more examples of the floaters but I knew where to find this one in my Spies folder (I have some more scattered about in unsorted folders). I have a run to do today for my eyes to look for any floaters in the vitreous. This example may even be marked by a separate retailer but I'll have to look closer at that blade. The rest identical to several marked by Spies.

Cheers

GC

8th November 2012, 04:45 PM	#4
Hotspur Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nipmuc USA Posts: 508	You are welcome Jim. Eagles are pretty much a passion for me and while the later swords less recognized at times, a period I try to make sense of. Both the floating big crested and backstrap big head show up in British guise but I am certain many of the castings start in Solingen. The example I showed with the backstrap has the mouth opened up but the profile of the big heads undeniably similar between backstrap and floaters. Here is a floating pommel like Norman's that is similar to the A.W.Spies of New York swords. Spies was an apprentice as a teen in the Wolfe family shop of New York. He then went abroad to Birmingham and learned the business of export as well as cutlery but he was mostly interested in the import to his business which would blossom on his own. There is some information I am compiling about Spies and had at one point started a thread over at SFI. I have some false conclusions of my own even in that thread but the framework is there. http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...les-and-others So anyway, a big head floater ala Spies and Salter, undoubtedly from England but we know Solingen is makeing birds like this. I have several Spies marked backstrap examples and the big head floating pommels seem to be a lot less common to find. I can't say that makes them earlier or later but they were (perhaps) to mimic the screaming eagles of Ames which had floating pommels and the spiral or slash marked grips. The Ames artillery sabres and infantry spadroons are of this period. I will add some more examples of the floaters but I knew where to find this one in my Spies folder (I have some more scattered about in unsorted folders). I have a run to do today for my eyes to look for any floaters in the vitreous. This example may even be marked by a separate retailer but I'll have to look closer at that blade. The rest identical to several marked by Spies. Cheers GC Attached Images