Wheel-Lock Spanners ca. 1520-1620

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by cornelistromp

Hi Michael,

Beautiful piece, It seams that you are collecting longer then I do.
The quality you have achieved in your collection is almost impossible to reach now a days.
I listed 2 swords in this thread with the same decoration as our spanners.
Im looking forward to your reaction

thanks+regards

Hi Cornelis,

Please forgive me for not replying any earlier to that interesting comparison.

It is obvious that both the sword at the Klingenmusem Solingen and the one in your collection have almost identical zoomorphic quillons which still reflect the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The stylized animal heads which are also found in the gargoyles of cathedrals actually had an apotropaic function, meaning that they were meant to fend off evil superstitiously.

You are also exactly right in pointing out the stylistic relationship between those quillons and the decoration on our combined spanners and priming flasks, which actually is the basic criterion of my dating of them.

The Solingen catalog text states that the quillons may be earlier than the rest of the sword, and this is most probably true for your sword as well because the pommel should not be datable to any earlier than ca. 1580.

It is very demanding to observe and recognize such stylistic criteria which applied to all contemporary arts and crafts alike.

Michael