Some years back, on a Sword Forum far far away, I had the lucky chance e-mail from a gentleman who helped me to identify an old baskethilt that had a number of us scratching our heads as to when it was made, and by who !

I'd put up for sale two nice looking baskethilts, that I'd purchased sometime earlier via Craig Johnson (of A&A fame) who'd helped a lady to sell off some pieces from her late husbands collection, and in doing so described them as possibly being Victorian age, or perhaps early 20th century ?

During this sale process I received a message from a gentleman who introduced himself as E.B. Erickson (Eljay) and that he knew exactly when, and by who, at least one of these basket-hilts was made ..... himself, in 1994.
Eljay recognized the S-hilt (now in the David Wilson collection) as being his own work and was happy to see that I was not misrepresenting the piece, being honest about the uncertainty of its age, but wanted to inform me as to its origin and the mystery of its age, etc!
Eljay proved to be incredibly knowledgeable, explaining his background of sum 20+ years in the antique sword restoration field, and by the end of our conversations I'd commissioned him to make me an elaborate "Walter Allan" styled basket-hilt . The following year I received my first hilt from Eljay and was blown away by its excellence ! This first project led to annual pieces by him and the rest as they say is history :-)

All that to tell you this ....

After years of online friendship, several long distance telephone chats thru the years, I finally got to meet Mr. Erickson face to face this past Thursday evening at my home here in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
(Eljay makes annual summer vacation trips to the states, most of which keep him in his home state of California, visiting family, etc., but this year his clan decided to visit realitives on the east coast of this great nation, thus bringing him in the proximity of old Mac :-)

Not only was Eljay stopping by to visit, finally meet etc., he brought with him an item to complete my latest project with him ...... a beautiful scabbard for my kilij bladed ribbonhilt (inspired by an original at the Culloden Visitors Center, near Inverness, Scotland.) Wow .... what a job, and what a truly wonderful guy Eljay turned out to be in person (was there ever a doubt ;-). The night seemed to breeze by as Eljay told us of his travels, life, and the various things he's been up to.
I of course put out a mean spread of Scottish hardware for Mr. Erickson to peruse, as he recognized many a piece by himself, and got to handle and inspect the work of his colleague, & fellow hammerman in arms, Vince Evans !
(Eljay was most impressed :-)

Here are some shots of my evening with Eljay (thanks to my wife Margery for the shots of Eljay & I, and the food ;-)

Slàinte, Mac

Eljay with Evans in hand, and Mac with one of E.B's finest



The evenings spread





Examining the VE brass & steel hilt



My Eljay Turcael with its new scabbard



The sword with its maker



A bit of the scabbards detail



The opening to allow the curved blade to enter & seat
The originals blade curves out from the hilt, whereas my blade is straighter and curves nearer the yamen thus requiring this feature.



To be Continued .......................

Blade sheathed



Eljay checks out an old 'Irish' baskethilt he made that was mounted with an antique sabre blade
This is the piece I purchased at the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show a few years back



E.B. with a Vince Evans two-handed claymore in hand



Two boys just having some fun :-)



Eljay studies the fine lines of a VE brass hilted dirk
(he really loved this one :-)



Eljay-san with my Howard Clark katana in hand



Another shot of my E.B. Turcael



Sizing up a VE Scottish hand & half



More to come ........

Eljay handles a beautiful S-hilt by Mr. Vince Evans
Eljay mentioned this piece would make an excellent fencing sword, as it's fast, light, and agile



The great VE diamond hilt in hand
A manly sword despite its elegant beauty



The amazing VE Scottish singlehand



Eljay does some incredible turks heads for sure



EB with a Stirling bronze inlay basket he did in hand!



"Say Cheese" ..... Eljay and Mac smile for the birdie



It was truly wonderful getting to meet Mr. Erickson .....
I thank him so much for everything he's made me and the friendship that has resulted from it all ...... Thanks EB.

:-) Mac

Thanks for sharing, Mac. You have a fabulous collection, and that Eljay turcael is especially neat.

Truly a beautiful representation of a rich culture! Glat to see that two internet buddies could finally get together and have such a nice time and to have the master craftsman in one's home is a priviledge but Ejay has a great customer.

Thanks for another set of beautiful photography!

Bob

Thank you for posting these photos. It's always nice to see the man behind the work - and the fortunate fellow with the amazing collection!

The pictures are really great, and having made a few friends here that I haven't spoken to on the phone or seen in person I can appreciate the trill of finally getting to see them up close. :cool: :D

I can imagine that before meeting there is always the nagging thought that maybe face to face the chemistry felt exchanging
E-Mails won't be there. Glad to hear that you had a good time and that the long distance relationship turned out well face to face. :D

I've never met ElJay in person, but I've talked with on the phone and exchanged many messages with him. He's a very good man. I've met Mac on one occasion and talked with him many other times. In those dealings, he's exactly as he appears on the forums: a damn nice person.

A finer pair you'll never meet.

Thanks for sharing, Mac.

Thanks for posting the pictures Mac, it's always nice to find out someone is as easy to get along with in the flesh as it were as they are through the internet. It's one of my few bladeshow regrets that you and I did not get to talk a little more a couple of years ago.

Hey Mac, thanks for taking the time to take photos and post them up! About time you 2 meet...see you next year in Morro Bay with your swords!

Wow thanks for sharing Mac! If ever Mac goes to war he'll be outfitting himself with arms, unfortunately he won't be able to move with all the hardware strapped to himself :)

Hi Mac,

Thank you so much for sharing these pictures and your experience of meeting Eljay. You, sir, have a damned fine collection and I have to admit I'm quite envyous. :D

The scabbard looks great! The tooling on it looks excellent! Eljay seems to have done one hell of a job!
But what kind of suspension will you have to that scabbard???

But what have you done with the two Stirling hilts and the "Fraser" hilt? They look as if you have dismounted them..?

Cheers,
Henrik

Ah... Good to hear they are still intact! :D

Please post some pics when you've fitted the suspension! I'd love to see how that turns out!

Cheers,
Henrik

Hi Mac,

Eljay mentioned that he finally got to meet you. Well done! I can
vouch for those that claim that Eljay is an awesome sword
maker, but more importantly, an awesome person. Way back
in 2003 when I was called up for military duty, I had $800
stolen from me. Money that was meant for Eljay. The man
didn't even bat an eyelash about giving me more time to
pay, and for that I was, and am, eternally grateful. Thanks
Eljay, and thanks Mac for posting some great pictures and
accounts of your meeting.

Alex

Little off-topic, but in the picture labled "Two boys having some fun" I have the same picture that is behind your leg...will be hanging in my den in a few days (after we finish painting), I've always liked that picture.

Kenton