Unknow sword

[carlos]

Hello
This is my last adquisition, from EBay, the seller is from Malta , and the sword is unknow to me.
The pommel is like a schiavona sword but the guard is very different.
The total length is near 44 in. the blade seems good, probably varnished.
Could you help me to identify this sword?
Thanks in advance
carlos

[fernando]

Bizarre .

[BerberDagger]

Is the heandle guard copper ?

[carlos]

Originally Posted by BerberDagger

Is the heandle guard copper ?

Yes, I think is copper

[carlos]

Originally Posted by carlos

Yes, I think is copper

The pommel is diferent material.

[M ELEY]

A put-together sword? Not necessarily a bad thing, as many colonial types were such. The pommel does indeed look like the cat pattern cap from a shiavonna. I think the piece could certainly be Spanish colonial. Copper hilts were common and cherished in Africa, but the piece looks more European. Malta isn't too far from the North African coast, however, and trade patterns/piracy might be considered. Everything looks authentically old, including the blade. Different!

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

A put-together sword? Not necessarily a bad thing, as many colonial types were such. The pommel does indeed look like the cat pattern cap from a shiavonna. I think the piece could certainly be Spanish colonial. Copper hilts were common and cherished in Africa, but the piece looks more European. Malta isn't too far from the North African coast, however, and trade patterns/piracy might be considered. Everything looks authentically old, including the blade. Different!

Spot on Mark!!!
Some of the most intriguing weapons are these clearly composite items which may have been assembled by innovative armourers in any number of cases , most probably in colonial settings.
I think many instances of these kinds of arms are indeed in Spanish colonial context, but the Italian oriented components here do point toward Africa as you noted with the copper hilt.
The Italian colonial presence in North Africa, particularly Abyssinia is well established and armourers in many regions here as well as others with Italian contact certainly were adept at copying certain European forms.
While the stirrup hilted 'gurade' of European form was well known in Ethiopia, the court sword style of officers sword must have had some presence.
In ersatz situations it is quite possible such a sword as this might have been created for any number of situations. There was considerable volume of Italian weaponry, including blades into the Red Sea trade, and it is quite conceivable that other schiavona components might have moved with them.

As noted, Malta was a key traffic point for blades and weaponry to the North African entrepots as well.

[M ELEY]

Thanks, Jim. I was just trying to deduce how this ersatz sword might have come about. Of course, we'll probably never know for sure, unless another shows up. I was following the deductive reasoning of another fine Forumite ( the Cap'n of the Bookmobile!) who is most excellent at connecting the dots on such things-

[carlos]

Thank you very much !! The information is very good and I think I did a good deal buying sword.
Thanks again
Carlos

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

Thanks, Jim. I was just trying to deduce how this ersatz sword might have come about. Of course, we'll probably never know for sure, unless another shows up. I was following the deductive reasoning of another fine Forumite ( the Cap'n of the Bookmobile!) who is most excellent at connecting the dots on such things-

Thanks so much Mark! You and I have been together on this 'dot connecting' for a long time, and these kinds of items are what makes weapons researching fun.
Nice job there Carlos on this one! Thank you for sharing it.

Bookmobile...over and out