EARLY 17TH CENTURY BROADSWORD for discussion

[Cerjak]

EARLY 17TH CENTURY BROADSWORD
with tapering blade of flattened diamond-section stamped ( the 2 sides) 'Peter Bere Avillem Alamania Me Fecit' enclosed by scrollwork within three short slender fullers framed by lines, terminating with a cross and orb mark and stamped with a further cross and orb mark on each face, the ricasso formed with a blunt crescentic finger recess on one side, steel hilt comprising a pair of forward-and-backward-canted vertically recurved quillons swelling slightly towards their terminals, a pair of arms, knuckle-guard with recurved terminal en suite with the quillons, and faceted globular pommel and wooden grip.
97.8 cm in blade overall 112 cm wide in ricasso 5cm
I would like to know more about Peter Bere Avillem so any information about this ( German ? ) sword smith will be welcome.

[fernando]

An outstanding sword, Jean-Luc.
I wish you luck with the name deciphering.
Remember that most possibly it was 'latinized', in line with ALAMANIA ME FECIT.
The first name Peter is not German but, Pieter would be. Probably also Avillem doesn't make sense, although Willem does.
So you would have Pieter Willem Bere ... assuming that 'Bere' is a real family name.
Obviously i am only shooting in the dark .

[Marcus den toom]

It is without a doubt German, because the sentence ALAMANIA ME FECIT. is litterally translated to "Germany made me" So Fernando is right to assume that the other names will probaby be latin versions of the real makers or owners name.

I am right to see that this sword was for auction just a few days ago?
Nice catch Jean Luc

[NeilUK]

I notice that AVILLEM is on a separate line from Peter Bere, so could it be the name of a town in Germany? And although ALAMANIA is Latinised the name Peter is not! It would be PETRUS. A strange mixture, but a fine sword.
Neil

[Cerjak]

HI Marcus ,Fernando and Neil
Many thanks for your comments
This sword was in the Morton and Angela Stern Collection (New York) and had been sold with the following description : AN ITALIAN BROADSWORD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY. I didn’t find any more information about this collection . A sword with related blade and hilt, formerly in the Kienbusch Collection, and now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is illustrated Boccia and Coelho 1975, no. 545 (.scan courtesy of Fernando )
Hoping to learn more about 'Peter Bere Avillem”
Best
Cerjak

[CSinTX]

Very interesting sword. At first, I thought the pommel might not belong but after seeing the other example from Fernando, it would appear that it does belong.

There is a small notch on your blade just in front of the scalloped ricasso. I thought it might be a damage mark from your blade possibly originating on another guard but now I see the other example has similar small notches. Does anyone know the purpose of these? Speculating maybe notches for bindings to keep a frog in place?

Nice piece and it looks like you got it at an attractive price. Congrats!

[ulfberth]

Congratulations on this impressive sword Cerjak !
To me the pommel belongs to the sword, it is faceted just as the guard is.
kind regards

Ulfberth

[fernando]

Originally Posted by NeilUK

I notice that AVILLEM is on a separate line from Peter Bere, so could it be the name of a town in Germany? ...

It could; but if you patiently browse the net, you will see that such word was originaly a person's name, mainly used in the Nederlands, during this sword's period, as attributed to a Prince of Orange ... and not only:

.

[Marcus den toom]

Does the name read Avillem Bere or rather A Villem Rere?
The last would translate from Latin into "The white villa"

So very loosely it can be read as, "Peter at the white Villa, made in Germany"
Peter beeing either the name of the owner/the maker or the name for this sword?

[Cerjak]

Originally Posted by fernando

It could; but if you patiently browse the net, you will see that such word was originaly a person's name, mainly used in the Nederlands, during this sword's period, as attributed to a Prince of Orange ... and not only:

.

Thank you fernando it seems plausible to me and I 'll look in that direction.
best

Jean-Luc

[cornelistromp]

Jean-Luc,

thanks for the link!
No unfortunately there is no link to Willem van Oranje or to my country.

although on the blade is written that it is made in Germany, I am assuming that the sword is of Italian Origen.

also the blade. despite the references to Germany:
ALAMANIA ME FECIT
PETER BERE(Behre) is a German name, as well as the 'orb and cross' mark above the fuller, used by the bladesmiths of Solingen in Germany.
AVILLEM, I read as A VILLE M, in the town M.
AVILLEM ALAMANIA MEFECIT= in the town M Germany Iam made.

this was done more often, blades from Germany had a good reputation because they were of high quality, a link to Germany was in Spain and Italy seen as a quality indication, vice versa happened also.

This type of sword is specific "Italian" as detailed in Armi Bianche Italiane.
characterized by the wide fullered blade and cutout for the index finger
popular in Italy at the end of the 16th century.

(Almost) all of the marks in these sword blades can be traced back to Italian workshops.
attached pipctures of an Italian Storta I had in my collection, from the Carl Beck collection Sursee Switserland, with an almost indentical pommel as the sword under discussion and blade similarities.




best,
Jasper

[Cerjak]

Originally Posted by cornelistromp

Jean-Luc,

thanks for the link!
No unfortunately there is no link to Willem van Oranje or to my country.

although on the blade is written that it is made in Germany, I am assuming that the sword is of Italian Origen.

also the blade. despite the references to Germany:
ALAMANIA ME FECIT
PETER BERE(Behre) is a German name, as well as the 'orb and cross' mark above the fuller, used by the bladesmiths of Solingen in Germany.
AVILLEM, I read as A VILLE M, in the town M.
AVILLEM ALAMANIA MEFECIT= in the town M Germany Iam made.

this was done more often, blades from Germany had a good reputation because they were of high quality, a link to Germany was in Spain and Italy seen as a quality indication, vice versa happened also.

This type of sword is specific "Italian" as detailed in Armi Bianche Italiane.
characterized by the wide fullered blade and cutout for the index finger
popular in Italy at the end of the 16th century.

(Almost) all of the marks in these sword blades can be traced back to Italian workshops.
attached pipctures of an Italian Storta I had in my collection, from the Carl Beck collection Sursee Switserland, with an almost indentical pommel as the sword under discussion and blade similarities.




best,
Jasper

Hi Jasper,
Thank you for the pictures , beautiful storta ,also the globular pommel is very similar.
Best

Jean-Luc