Hand and a Half Sword

ulfberth · 16th July 2019, 11:40 AM

Hi Casey ,
let me first congratulate you with this magnificent hand and a half sword !
This is one of the finest examples I have seen in years , these are rare and yours is in very good condition and with a wonderful homogeneous patina.
Everything is exactly how it should be, as you noticed it does not feel to heavy , swords for the field should feel well balanced and not heavy.
By that I mean one should be able to take them in your hands and wield them and it should feel comfortable doing so, no need to lean back to counterbalance the weight etc, of course with exception of some bearing swords , these can be heavier.
About the flexible blade , I found most of this wide type blades are flexible and for battle they should be, again the big bearing sword are less flexible.
There are a few two handed swords in the Palace of the Doge in Venice with exactly the same blade marks and the blades have similar geometry , as you can see on the pictures.
The blade marks can appear on blades going 15th C until early 17th C , however I would say your sword is German mid 16th century.
Kind regards
Ulfberth

16th July 2019, 11:40 AM	#3
ulfberth Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 424	Hi Casey , let me first congratulate you with this magnificent hand and a half sword ! This is one of the finest examples I have seen in years , these are rare and yours is in very good condition and with a wonderful homogeneous patina. Everything is exactly how it should be, as you noticed it does not feel to heavy , swords for the field should feel well balanced and not heavy. By that I mean one should be able to take them in your hands and wield them and it should feel comfortable doing so, no need to lean back to counterbalance the weight etc, of course with exception of some bearing swords , these can be heavier. About the flexible blade , I found most of this wide type blades are flexible and for battle they should be, again the big bearing sword are less flexible. There are a few two handed swords in the Palace of the Doge in Venice with exactly the same blade marks and the blades have similar geometry , as you can see on the pictures. The blade marks can appear on blades going 15th C until early 17th C , however I would say your sword is German mid 16th century. Kind regards Ulfberth Attached Images Last edited by ulfberth; 16th July 2019 at 12:19 PM.