Hello everyone.
I'm sort of new here and sort of not- I've been lurking around this site for about three years, and figured it's time to introduce myself. My main interests right now are 17th/18th century backswords, hangers and cutlasses, and i'm starting to develop a fixation on sinclair hilts. does anyone know of any good references for sinclair hilts?

Thanks,
Mike Wells

One good place to start is with E. Oakeshott's book "European Weapons & Armour -From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution". I'm sure others will have good sources to throw your way as well, this is a grand place for obtaining useful info. - lots of most helpful folks.

BTW A thousand welcomes to you!

My main interest/research in the "Mortuary" hilt of the 17th c., some say kinda/ sorta kin to Sinclair & Walloon hilt swords.
Check out the review and photo album sections of this site too for added info. on the Sinclair.

Cheers,

Bill

Oakeshott has very little to say about the Sinclair hilts. And when you do a google search the only real hits are on the best sword forum on the internet: myArmoury.com. Here is a summary of what Oakeshott says:

South German origin. Large triangular plate very often pierced with circles diamonds or hearts. The pommel is a flattened pyramid with slightly curved edges. The grip is always short and of oval section.

Oakeshott relates how Victorian collectors gave these types of sword hilts the name “Sinclair.” It seems that many of these types of hilts made their way into Norway in the 19th century in the antiquities trade. Victorian collectors noted a resemblance to the Scottish baskethilts. The connection with Scots brought to their mind a band of Scottish mercenaries that tried to fight their way across Norway in 1612. They were routed in the Gudrun Valley. This ill-fated band of mercenaries was led by Colonel George Sinclair. And so in a series of very weak associations Sinclair’s name has been attached to this type of sword hilt.

Although the development of the complex hilt is itself very complex, there does seem to be a connection with the German baskethilts. However it seems like every basket form is connected to the German baskethilts. It is almost like the German basket is a seminal form from which many other basket forms sprang. I also wonder if they may have some connection to swords with sail guards (Italian... I think).

Here are some composites I put together for anyone interested in this fascinating basket design:

ks

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German forms Left True Sinclair forms Right

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Italian? forms Left True Sinclair forms Right

Kirk-
I'm also very intrigued by this hilt type. It's fascinating to me.

Here are three more comparisons...

In each case there seems to be at least one feature that crosses the boundary.

ks

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German Form and Sinclair

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Italian? Form and Sinclair

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Rapier Form and Sinclair

very nice swords :)
Thx a lot for sharing!
Many of these sinclair-sabers look very similar to 16/17th century Dussacks. Interesting to see how different countries tweaked the basket-hilt idea to meet their needs and taste.

A dussack from Styria, Austria
[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]

Time for a bit of thread necromancy... ;)

I've just recently become very interested in this hilt design, and I'd be particularly interested in seeing/learning more about the one pictured on the right hand side of this image (so kindly provided above by Mr. Spencer):

[ Linked Image ]

Are more images available of this example? I notice the normally "sail"-esque guard is different from most others shown, as is the pommel. Very cool.

Awesome! Thank you very much!

So, given that the attribution of these swords to Sinclair and his Scots of 1612 is inaccurate, who exactly would have used such blades? I've seen them frequently referred to as Germanic in origin, but I'm not sure whether that means they were only popular in that area, or if the use was more widespread throughout Europe. Can anyone provide more insight?

So far I've noticed that all these sabers were photo'd from the right, showing only the external side. I wonder if some Sinclairs have thumb rings - Kirk, I'm referring to your pic here, it does look like the one on the right has a thumb ring:

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Great pics, Kirk, thanks. So, Sinclair sabers did have thumb ring occasionaly. That's an important fact, particularly when we know the thumb ring has became popular across Europe along the 17th c.