Sinhala / Sri Lankan Swords?

Jim McDougall · 1st February 2014, 02:54 AM

At last! I finally completed my three posts with images, posts #249, 250 and 251. Due to scanner issues I enlisted the help of my wife (my tech support) to use her phone to take these, so sorry for the drawn out grouping.

#249: Images of the Philip III sword from c1603, where this sword is in the Royal Armouries of Madrid as catalogued by Calvert in 1907. It is illustrated in "Armi Bianchi Italiene" (1975, opcit. and text on p.390).

What interesting here is the lionhead on this sword (of European form of course) and most notably the monster head on the scabbard tip .

It would seem that the use of figure heads was in place in Italy, and possibly elsewhere in Europe by mid 16th century, and as seen here, this and the 'monster' head were already featured on swords in Spain prior to the Hasekura mission.

If indeed the blade was produced in Spain placing this type of monster head on the peak of the blade, and spurious markings (as often placed) were added, could the second marking be a European attempt at Japanese characters?
I think we can rule out China as a place for blade provenance, and as seen, the Philippine possibility is out. Oriental influences seem quite present by the time of this sword c.1603.

The other images are pretty much explained in each post.

I want to note that these images and data are from the books referenced and photos using phone as noted.

***** Note: Apparantly there is conflict in whether the kastane and keris were acquired by Hasekura in Madrid at audience with Philip III.....or in another account which suggests these were obtained in Philippines -on behalf of Philip III ? Naturally confirmation of which is important in the consideration of these comparative examples.

1st February 2014, 02:54 AM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,191	At last! I finally completed my three posts with images, posts #249, 250 and 251. Due to scanner issues I enlisted the help of my wife (my tech support) to use her phone to take these, so sorry for the drawn out grouping. #249: Images of the Philip III sword from c1603, where this sword is in the Royal Armouries of Madrid as catalogued by Calvert in 1907. It is illustrated in "Armi Bianchi Italiene" (1975, opcit. and text on p.390). What interesting here is the lionhead on this sword (of European form of course) and most notably the monster head on the scabbard tip . It would seem that the use of figure heads was in place in Italy, and possibly elsewhere in Europe by mid 16th century, and as seen here, this and the 'monster' head were already featured on swords in Spain prior to the Hasekura mission. If indeed the blade was produced in Spain placing this type of monster head on the peak of the blade, and spurious markings (as often placed) were added, could the second marking be a European attempt at Japanese characters? I think we can rule out China as a place for blade provenance, and as seen, the Philippine possibility is out. Oriental influences seem quite present by the time of this sword c.1603. The other images are pretty much explained in each post. I want to note that these images and data are from the books referenced and photos using phone as noted. ***** Note: Apparantly there is conflict in whether the kastane and keris were acquired by Hasekura in Madrid at audience with Philip III.....or in another account which suggests these were obtained in Philippines -on behalf of Philip III ? Naturally confirmation of which is important in the consideration of these comparative examples. Last edited by Jim McDougall; 1st February 2014 at 04:24 AM.