Cuphilt Sword with Damascus blade?

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by kai

I'm pretty sure that the laminations were enhanced by such treatment. A well-known example are the much earlier blades studied by Stefan Mäder: http://www.schwertbruecken.de/pdf/staehle.pdf

I'm stipulating that this might very well be a genuine European blade if the experts can't find any solid evidence that it doesn't fit. IMNSHO, just going by the unusual appearance is not compelling though.

Tell me which period this blade may originate from? I can't exclude it being a later reproduction but a few knowlegable folks here seemed to ponder whether it might be an older, refurbished blade.

I can positively state that this blade wasn't crafted by any traditional Moro bladesmith.
(Visayas and the whole Indo-Malay archipelago seem extremely unlikely as well...)

Regards,
Kai

Thank you for posting that publication!

We have tried to fit the sword into a possible colonial context given its basic and slightly unusual appearance. The idea is that swords were modified or assembled using whatever was available far away from traditional European swordmaking hubs.

The part of the sword near the cup and the tang doesn’t look that different from my 17thC Solingen made “Ayala” cuphilt rapier.

I have a fairly worn 17thC Austrian Reiter/Felddegen with a worn blade and some loss of material. If cleaned thoroughly and etched, it might reveal patterns but probably not as elegant and flowing as the sword under discussion.