Hiya! Just wondered if anyone could please help me identify a sword? I bought this sword a couple days ago at a local auction, and they said they couldnt tell me how old it was or the type of sword, just that someone moved to a new house and found it hidden in a cupboard. I have no idea if its old or a modern copy but it is rather rusty so if anyone could point me in the direction of a good webpage about cleaning the sword and looking after it, that would be great :)
Here are some photos:

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword1.jpg

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword2.jpg

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword3.jpg

Thanks!
Laura


P.S. oops forgot to mention, i can read part of the makers name and it seems to say OOLLBY or something similar.

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The design appears to be an 18th century loop-hilt smallsword. (paging Stephen Fisher!)

I couldn't tell you if it's legit or not. It's possibly a Victorian copy. Regardless, if it's not 18th century, it appears to be a very well made copy. I know I'd love to own it.

I'm not Stephen, but based on my admittedly small amount of knowledge of the smallsword, I would have to agree with Bill.

It also looks like a shearing sword, which would make perfect sense with this style of hilt. But the blade appears to be of a hollow ground triangular cross section, a la many smallswords.

Can you give us more pictures and/or more information? Could you describe the blade?

I don't know if you want to clean it up yourself without knowing more about it first. It might depreciate the value.

Laura,
You've got a mid to late 1700s English (probably) officer's sword there. And someone found it in a cupboard? Ah, gives all us collectors hope of turning up a sleeper or two ourselves!

--ElJay

Hiya! Thanks for all the info, wow i didnt know it might be that old!! Yea what a great thing for someone to find in a cupboard, and very lucky they took it to an auction rather than throwing it away! How much would you estimate a sword like this would cost to buy? It's probably gonna be staying in my collection, but im curious! :D

I'll try and describe the sword but im a bit of a newbie to sword collecting so forgive me if i get the names of sword parts wrong! :) The entire sword is about 39 inches long and the blade is about 32 inches long, the grip is black and seems to be made from wood i think. The back edge is thick (about 0.25 inches where it meets the handle) and it sticks out creating a ridge sort of thing, it gets thinner further down the blade, it ends after about 22.5 inches. There is a fuller down the entire centre of the blade with a ridge either side. I've a few more photos including one of the makers name (my camera isnt too good at extreme close ups unfortunately!):

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword4.jpg

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword5.jpg

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword6.jpg

http://www.plutonicart.com/~ladypoison/swordpics/laurasword7.jpg

Thanks again for all the help :)

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Laura,
I'm incredibly jealous! Congratulations on the lucky find!

It is always hard to say from a photo. If I am seeing it correctly, it appears to have two "loops" incorperated into the guard. Its possible that these may have had metal, pierced shell guards inside of them at one time. Also, the more common style for a loop guard sword is to have only one loop, on the outside of the sword. I do agree that it is not a victorian remake, this was a fighting weapon not a display piece.

Don

Hi Laura,
Glad you posted the photo of the maker's name. It looks like it says "Wooley". That confirms that it's an English sword, and also dates it in the early 1790s or thereabouts.

As to value, my guess is that it would start at about $300. Max about $500. Of course, if you ever put it up for auction, it could go higher if a couple of people had a bidding war!

The grip is probably ebony.

Loop hilts of this period didn't have the pierced plates, but just to make sure, check the inside of the rings. If there's a deeply incised narrow channel, then it did have them.

Again, good find!

--ElJay

Thanks everyone for the information!! :D
One more question.... whats the best way to look after the sword and stop it rusting even more? I have sword oil but wasn't sure if there was anything else i should do to the sword!

Thanks,
Laura