Just thought you folks would enjoythe pictures of our newly acquired period original.

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basket of the sword

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makers mark on blade

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full shot of sword [ Download ]

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double edge at tip [ Download ]

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close-up of basket [ Download ]

A few final shots

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back with sword blocks [ Download ]

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another shot of the basket [ Download ]

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pommel [ Download ]

Alan, is that the same brute I handled at the ren faire? I'd really hate to be on the receiving end of that one!!

Hey Jay . No this ones new . Much more ornate and more bars one the gaurd . The blade is about 1/3 lighter than the one you handled so its quicker but doesn't hit with as much force . Its in the same condition as the one you held in terms of use marks , parrying nicks on the blade surfaces and the basket .

Any possibility this is a modern forgery?

Hey Sean , while we think the grip wires are definitely replacements the rest of the piece appears to be all original . The twisted bars of the gaurd are forge welded to the quillons and to each other . The only other pieces that might be replacements are the top and bottom collars of the hilt over the replaced wire wrapping . We purchased a mid 16th century horsemans axe from this fellow earlier in the summer which also had the grip replaced in the past ( this is pretty common for period peices to have the decayed grips replaced later for display .) which wasn't particularly well executed so we've stripped it off and are going to replace it . The grip replacement on this sword is pretty well done so we don't plan
to mess around with it .

Wow! So you guys got two of those sabers. Very cool. Are they actually easy to come by or have you just been lucky to find them?

Just lucky . Both are actually from the same guy ( also the one we got the axe from ) . His uncle left him his collection and the guy has no interest in the stuff . With more seniors "moving on" I think theres going to be more of this stuff around in the next 15-20 years as it goes to thier kids and they sell it on .