Posts: 871 Location: Paris, France
Sun 03 Feb, 2008 3:19 pm
Well, taking good photos in a museum is definitely something difficult for me :\
Anyway, here is the best shot I was able to get, a bit modified in an image manipulation program (I can send you the original image but I don't think it is much more helpful). On this hopefully you can see the fuller and the blade a bit better.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to shoot the sword from other angles because of the glass and the way the sword is displayed. And I wasn't sure of which part you wanted close-ups from. The photo of the guard you posted at the start of the thread is way better than what I have...
The sword is indeed a type XIV as far as I can tell. I think its overall length is around 80-90cm, but really it's difficult to measure. The grip seemed, well, neither too long nor too short :) The cross guard is indeed an
Oakeshott style 2, squarish in the middle and more rounded towards the tip of the quillons. It looks quite like the cross of Albion's Knight, but without the faceted look. The fuller ends gradually at about two thirds down the blade. It also gradually fades on the tang. I don't know how usual these "fullered tangs" are? My overall impression was that of a sturdy, rather well preserved sword. It is strange because looking at the photos, the sword seems bent a little, and I did not see that in the museum...
Sorry I can't help more. I hope for you someone will be able to do something more satisfying one of these days...
Oh, and I tried to take pictures of the daggers there as well, but they are quite blurry, so I don't think they are worth the bandwidth ;) Does anyone has a sure way to obtain good pictures with weak lighting, without flash, and with the glass reflecting bright windows :cry: ?
Attachment: 24.52 KB

The sword