Thank you Lee, and welcome everybody!

[fernando]

CONGRATULATIONS, JIM

Fernando

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks very much Henk, Jens and Fernando!
You guys are great!!
I'm really looking forward to working at this with Ed and Lee and finally having a forum where we can really learn more on these important weapons.
All the best,
Jim

[Marc]

Congratulations, Jim. I'm sure you'll drive this forum with wise and steady hand

[fernando]

Allow me to have the honour of being be the first member to post a piece in this Forum ... just for memory sake.
Not a pretentious specimen, rather an action piece; a Portuguese infantry officer sabre, from the period of Dona Maria II, circa 1843, based on the 1822 Britsh pattern.
Its robust blade is 78 cms. long, 7,5 m/m thick and 32 m/m wide at the forte.
The guard is embelished with the Portuguese royal crest.
This will be a deja vue for Jim, as he knows the majority of my non ethno pieces, wich eventually i showed him some time ago by direct email.
I hope the other members will find some little interest, though.
Fernando

[fernando]

So i did it all wrong
Besides not having been the first one to post a piece, i should have opened a new thread with my theme, instead of opening a reply here.
Do you think it is possible to move it to a new thread ?
... Or should i just forget it ?
Fernando

[katana]

Bravo Jim and Lee ,
I have often argued that European weapons should be represented in an Ethnographic weapons forum. Afterall some ethno weapons have trade blades, a number of weapon designs were heavily influenced by 'invading' (trading ?) colonialists (and vis versa) ...and of course it gives some sort of context to the weapons tribesmen faced when Europeans suddenly 'turned up' on their doorstep.

Regards David

PS Very nice sword Fernando

[fernando]

Originally Posted by katana

... I have often argued that European weapons should be represented in an Ethnographic weapons forum. Afterall some ethno weapons have trade blades, a number of weapon designs were heavily influenced by 'invading' (trading ?) colonialists (and vis versa) ...and of course it gives some sort of context to the weapons tribesmen faced when Europeans suddenly 'turned up' on their doorstep ...

I quite agree.

Originally Posted by katana

PS Very nice sword Fernando

Tank you David,
I have read your wishlist, the other day, and noticed that some of your tastes are similar to mine.
By 1796 pattern sword, do you mean the "light" one or the "heavy" one ?.
I saw a heavy one recently in a flea market, with some wear, certainly full of history ... most probably from when the Brits were around here, during the Napoleonic invasions. But as i gave priority to my hand cannon, offered by the same seller at the same time, i didn't buy such nice sword. This fair takes place every second Sunday. If it is still there next time, i may well go for it.
Concerning the light version, i will open a thread with an excavated specimen, that resembles somehow such pattern.
Fernando

[Jim McDougall]

[QUOTE=katana]Bravo Jim and Lee ,
I have often argued that European weapons should be represented in an Ethnographic weapons forum. Afterall some ethno weapons have trade blades, a number of weapon designs were heavily influenced by 'invading' (trading ?) colonialists (and vis versa) ...and of course it gives some sort of context to the weapons tribesmen faced when Europeans suddenly 'turned up' on their doorstep.
ENDQUOTE


Very well said David! Those very factors have long been the reason to comingle the weapons of many of the international powers, both civilian and military with those of native weapons in various cultures. While including these in the focus on certain ethnographic weaponry certainly gave perspective, these various civilian and military forms could not receive the proper investigation and discussion in the history they themselves carried.

I began collecting military swords many years ago, and eventually became intrigued by the weapons that often returned home with soldiers from many colonized places, and truly the comprehensive representation of the weapons of all sides was fantastic.

While I still truly love the study of ethnographic weapons, I have realized that with the European arms and armor, there was so much left to learn and discover. In many instances there has been far too much complacency left with profoundly important weapon forms, and too often I have seen incredibly outdated ideas still around concerning them.

With the knowledge of the membership here that has established so many advances in the study of ethnographic weapons, it is certain that the same will be applied here to vastly broaden our scope, and comprehensively develop the important study of arms and armour as a whole.

In addition to the participation of the membership here, I'm really looking forward to that of the countless readers who have interests in these weapons and have lurked these forums for some time. I invite all of them to bring thier weapons and questions to the forum....as always, we learn together!!!

All best regards,
Jim

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

Allow me to have the honour of being be the first member to post a piece in this Forum ... just for memory sake.
Not a pretentious specimen, rather an action piece; a Portuguese infantry officer sabre, from the period of Dona Maria II, circa 1843, based on the 1822 Britsh pattern.
Its robust blade is 78 cms. long, 7,5 m/m thick and 32 m/m wide at the forte.
The guard is embelished with the Portuguese royal crest.
This will be a deja vue for Jim, as he knows the majority of my non ethno pieces, wich eventually i showed him some time ago by direct email.
I hope the other members will find some little interest, though.
Fernando

Absolutely beautiful piece Fernando! Can you repost on a new thread? This is worthy of its own discussion absolutely as it represented a pattern form that became internationally used.

Thanks very much,
Jim

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Marc

Congratulations, Jim. I'm sure you'll drive this forum with wise and steady hand

Thank you so much Marc! I'm really looking forward to your input and have always looked forward to your posts which display outstanding knowledge on Spanish swords, especially those which diffused into the vast colonial empires of Spain and Portugal.

All the best,
Jim