Andrea Ferrara blades

[Jim McDougall]

Recent interest in Andrea Ferrara blades recalls our previous thread on early makers trade marks, and noting that while this name (or marking) appears most on Scottish baskethilt blades, some have been found mounted elsewhere. Some have appeared on Moroccan 'nimchas' as well as on Indian tulwars.

The 'Andrea Ferrara' mystery has often reappeared with the main question being was there really such a maker? if he actually existed, was he the one listed in Belluno, Venetia in the late 16th c. or has appeared in a recent query posted elsewhere, a Spanish smith who killed an apprentice caught spying on him as he was at work on a blade. The secrets of the swordsmith were of course mysterious and guarded, and one reference to this account ("Scottish Swords and Dirks", John Wallace, 1970, p.25) . Ferrara then supposedly fled to Scotland where he joined the court of James V and began a workshop.

It is generally agreed that the 'ANDREA FERRARA' mark was consistant and apparantly quite significant on the blades of Scottish swords, but these are of 17th to 18th century blades, which are certainly from German workshops. Therefore, it seems clear that these blades carry this name more likely in the sense of quality or talismanic significance, since the named person whether Italian or Spanish, lived over a century before most of these blades were made.
Though most Italian swordsmiths have been researched to the point of even finding thier original working locations ("Armi Bianche Italiene" Boccia & Coelho) none have been found for the oft mentioned Andrea Ferrara nor his brother Donato. For an Italian maker to go to Spain however, would not be surprising with Spain's provincial occupation there.

The dramatically crafted tale of the mysterious and elusive swordsmith who kills an apprentice and flees to Scotland, where presumably his blades are well sought after, seems clearly in line with many such colorful stories in weapons folklore. It is generally held today, as proposed by a number of the venerable arms writers, that 'ANDREA FERRARA' may well be an applied term suggesting the quality of the blade (ferara = lat. ferrous=iron; andrew= a colloquial expression of the time equiv. to true, honest). It is suggested since these blades are clearly German, and the marketing acumen of these makers is well known, that other famed makers names may have been applied to blade forms in this manner also, i.e. Ayala on rapier blades, Sahagun on backsword or SE sabre blades.

Obviously, this topic has been discussed here and elsewhere a number of times over the years, and by search, these can easily be found. However I just wanted to rewrite a synopsis of some of my notes for future reference, and as always, hoping for comments, observations and especially any new material that would be pertinant.