Smallswords, why the terms pillow and mourning swords?

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

and though it seems obvious that the pillow reference may have to do with 'hanging it on the bedpost at night' ...was that really the case?

The term 'pillow sword', to me, is an invention of some 20th century romantic historian.
The first mention of them that I've encountered was by Bashford Dean, but I can't be sure whether he invented the term or quoted someone else.
19th c. authors refer to the type as epee de ville, or a town sword, as opposed to the epee d'armes.
A.V.B. Norman writes that the so-called pillow swords were known at the time as scarf swords, spada corta, or spada di banda, because they were worn tucked in the waste sash.

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks Dmitry, thats a pretty good start. It seems I'd heard the scarf term too, another weird one! Norman would have been my first guess at first sources, but the Dean book is excellent (hard to find).
Need to find some examples.

[M ELEY]

Excellent post, gents. One I am definately interested in hearing about, although not very knowledgible in. A question that I have always had concerning mourning swords is whether they were originally carried as side pieces and then later blackened for the occasion. I presently have a blackened smallsword in my collection and it seems quite functional as a true working piece vs just an adornment for funerary occasions. As smallswords were known to be carried by some naval officers, I kept it as a representation piece.

[Dmitry]

Blackened hilt does not mean a mourning sword.Specifically, small-swords [or hangers, as they were called then] with simple, bilobate shell guards, mostly unadorned [save for scalloped borders], were, IMHO, sergeant's swords from the early to mid-1700s.

[Dmitry]

Here's a sword from my collection, ca.1660, that would be called a pillow sword by some, or a town sword my yours truly.
Sword is feather-weight. Even in this condition one can see that the quality of the cast and hand-chased steel hilt is quite good. Blade is inscribed on both sides, one side worn more than the other. It reads something like NULLA LA ...BELLO. Blade is 69.5 cm.
Any help with reading the inscription would be greatly appreciated, of course.

[M ELEY]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

Blackened hilt does not mean a mourning sword.Specifically, small-swords [or hangers, as they were called then] with simple, bilobate shell guards, mostly unadorned [save for scalloped borders], were, IMHO, sergeant's swords from the early to mid-1700s.

Thanks for that valuable information, Dmitry. I assumed the blackened forms represented the death of the one whose funeral it was. Does anyone have a picture of a so-called mourning sword, or is this title just a misnomer?

BTW, very nice town sword! I especially love the crossguard, with its Dutch designs...

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks guys, this is pretty interesting and Ive been doing some checking. Great example Dmitry, these seem to be kind of an untapped sector of collecting, at least to me....pretty esoteric.

Apparantly these are lighter, simple hilt swords that developed around the opening years of the 17th century that were in favor of the developing French school of fencing. The Italian and Spanish schools were much more conservative, and these were lighter, faster swords.
Because they were intended to be worn about town (as noted by Dmitry) they were essentially considered in a self defense type view, with the idea that as such they could easily be grasped from the bedside. There was apparantly a reference c.1655 to these type swords called 'walking swords', but the pillow thing seems to be an expression from about mid 18th century (Aylward, p.13).

Aylward also mentions on p.54 there was a strict convention for wearing of black in mid 18th century, with some cheaper blades and blackened steel hilts for expressing grief....it is noted that these were not necessarily just for mourning. It makes sense that a sword just for mourning would be a bit extravagant, unless there were really a lot of funerals!!

This is what I could find so far, and I really appreciate you guys input, and hope we can discover more. Excellent example there Dmitry!!!

All best regards,
Jim

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Aylward also mentions on p.54 there was a strict convention for wearing of black in mid 18th century, with some cheaper blades and blackened steel hilts for expressing grief....it is noted that these were not necessarily just for mourning. It makes sense that a sword just for mourning would be a bit extravagant, unless there were really a lot of funerals!!

As I see it, an 18th century gentleman of means[or debts] had several small-swords for different occasions, which, in today's parlance, might be equated to a closet rack of ties. Some of us have only one or two, some have 20+.

I, too, would be interested in seeing a 'bonified' mourning sword. Again, let's not forget that japanning was a preferred method of protecting steel from rusting, often applied to military swords and long-arms.

This, according to the Mount Vernon Museum, was George Washington's mourning sword. It does have a black grip [very uncommon to see a bone or ebony grips on small-swords, aside from some French martial examples], but the rest of the hilt is actually pretty festive, and reminiscent of the French model 1767 officer's swords.
http://emuseum.mountvernon.org/code/...rrentrecord=86

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Apparantly these are lighter, simple hilt swords that developed around the opening years of the 17th century that were in favor of the developing French school of fencing. The Italian and Spanish schools were much more conservative, and these were lighter, faster swords.
Because they were intended to be worn about town (as noted by Dmitry) they were essentially considered in a self defense type view, with the idea that as such they could easily be grasped from the bedside. There was apparantly a reference c.1655 to these type swords called 'walking swords', but the pillow thing seems to be an expression from about mid 18th century (Aylward, p.13).

Here are some chiseled steel pommels from around the same time< or just a tad earlier, than the one on my town-sword. Some of them are classified as French.


Jut to awaken the "pillow sword" nomenclature, Claude Blaire in his European and American Arms" put the term to rest [no pun intended].