Great war sword mark for id

[Cerjak]

more pictures

[Andreas]

Hi,
The cross and arrows symbol was a badge of the Schützenbrudershaften, the citizen militias in Germany (and neighbouring regions, Austria, Tyrol, Switzerland, ca. 14th-17th century), still used today by historical reenactment societies.
Regards,
Andreas

[Zwielicht]

Can't say for sure, but the cross on the pommel reminds that on the Jerusalem kingdom coat of arms. Wonderful sword, by the way.

[Cerjak]

Hi Zwielicht & Andreas
Thank you for your comment about the pommel marks.
So the last mark is this Arrow on the blade , It would be fantastic if someone could tell me more about the signification from this mark.
A last particularity from this sword is size with a blade about 1 meter ( 40 inches ) and hilt about 27 centimeters It could be the size for a two hands sword .
any comment on it would be welcome


Cerjak

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Hi Zwielicht & Andreas
Thank you for your comment about the pommel marks.
So the last mark is this Arrow on the blade , It would be fantastic if someone could tell me more about the signification from this mark.
A last particularity from this sword is size with a blade about 1 meter ( 40 inches ) and hilt about 27 centimeters It could be the size for a two hands sword .
any comment on it would be welcome


Cerjak

The Shutzenbrudershaften were armed initially with bows and crossbows (like their Dutch equivalent the Shutterij, of Rembrandt’s the Night Watch fame) so that would account for the arrow on the blade. From the 17th century they were gradually replaced by mercenaries, and eventually evolved to the well known contemporary shooters guilds (shooting clubs) of German speaking countries.
They always had very strong ties with the church and provided guard during religious festivals and processions. That would explain the cross potent on the pommel. As for the sword itself, perhaps Oakeshott XIIa?
Best,
Andreas

[Jim McDougall]

Outstanding information Andreas!!! and I have been able to add to my notes accordingly. Thank you so much.
Clearly an amazing example Jean Luc and thank you for sharing it here.

All best regards,
Jim

[Iain]

I'm going to have to be that horrible person who asks about the provenance attached to this sword.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Iain

I'm going to have to be that horrible person who asks about the provenance attached to this sword.

Meaning provenance=authencity ?

[Cerjak]

Originally Posted by Andreas

The Shutzenbrudershaften were armed initially with bows and crossbows (like their Dutch equivalent the Shutterij, of Rembrandt’s the Night Watch fame) so that would account for the arrow on the blade. From the 17th century they were gradually replaced by mercenaries, and eventually evolved to the well known contemporary shooters guilds (shooting clubs) of German speaking countries.
They always had very strong ties with the church and provided guard during religious festivals and processions. That would explain the cross potent on the pommel. As for the sword itself, perhaps Oakeshott XIIa?
Best,
Andreas

Dear Andreas

Many thanks for this precious information !

Jean-Luc

[Cerjak]

Dear Fernando & Lain

Last detail I've forgot to mention: the point of balance is 10 centimeters from the crossgard ,a good score for a medieval sword ..... together ,guard pommel blade marks patination are a coherent whole !I don’t understand the skeptical opinion about this sword. In which elements of this sword the doubt could be based ?

best

Jean-Luc

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Dear Fernando & Lain

Last detail I've forgot to mention: the point of balance is 10 centimeters from the crossgard ,a good score for a medieval sword ..... together ,guard pommel blade marks patination are a coherent whole !I don’t understand the skeptical opinion about this sword. In which elements of this sword the doubt could be based ?

best

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean-Luc, obviously since you have the sword in hand you are best placed to form an opinion on it. Unfortunately because of the large number of fakes on the market at the moment, both at auction and with private dealers, there are a lot of "too good to be true" swords out there as of course you know.

With your example the inlays are unusual. The condition of the inlay is also unusual for me, all of it appears to be intact. That's not impossible of course, but again, unusual. I could also say the slightly raised nature of the inlay is odd to me, but I am only used to handling swords with inlay with much less corrosion and losses to the blade material. So perhaps it is nothing and I am just ignorant.

It is of course not possible to determine authenticity just from photographs and I am certainly not an expert to do it in any case! But the points above really what made me think about this sword.

I hope of course it is entirely genuine, because it is really a very nice and unique example in that case.

All the best,
Iain

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Zwielicht

Can't say for sure, but the cross on the pommel reminds that on the Jerusalem kingdom coat of arms. Wonderful sword, by the way.

The Jerusalem cross is adorned by four crosslets. This one alone is the so called Cross Potent (Krückenkreuz), mostly found in Roman Catholic insignia.
This sword being authentic, falling into the XIII-XIX century period, is something extremely rare and highly valuable, only seen in museums and special collections; am i wrong ?

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