Check out the basket-hilt I had E.B. Erickson make for me this year. ElJay just made the basket and I'll need to have a blade made and mounted to it. I didn't want to wait to show you guys some snapshots I took tonight.

First off, it gets its design queues from this extant original:

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I don't know much about the original. It's been in the myArmoury.com photo albums for years but is not labeled.

Here is the new basket inspired by the above antique:

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Click any photo to see full-sized version


One thing I love about it is the grip. ElJay used some sharkskin that wasn't tanned correctly and so it was dropping some of the denticles. He stabilized it and made the grip with the wire over-wrap and turk's heads knots. A lot of persnickety collectors might not like this look, but for me the final effect really looks like it came off an antique sword and it really works for me.

I don't know when I'll have the blade made for it. At this point I'm leaning at giving it to Arms & Armor to get 'er done. The only problem is that I already have a couple other projects in their shop so it's not likely that they'd be able to start on this for quite some time. I guess I'll just have to wait! Of course, it's fun to get the basket in hand and makes me eager to see the completed sword!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

That unusual and beautiful baskethilt was a great choice, Nathan. And Eljay, as usual did a wonderful job of recreating it. I look forward to seeing it with a blade.

Scottish baskethilts aren't my thing, but if I could have one, this hilt would be it. It;s my turn to be envious, Nathan.

Well done, Nathan! Another wonderful baskethilt made by a true artist. You certainly have a wonderful collection! Congratulations!

The original sword is one of my favorite basket hilts, and now seeing it reproduced, I like it even more. ElJay is quite the magician! I agree with you on the grip, Nathan. The smooth shagreen looks wonderful on that sword! Can't wait to see it bladed up. Are you going to use the original sword as the model for the blade as well?

Oooooohhhhh.... ahhhhh.....

Very, very nice!

If you just wanted to mount a decent blade until you can get a custom job, you could always get the Hanwei basket hilt for ~$225, steal the blade and replace or part-out when your custom blade is ready. Also, several Hanwei-Tinker swords blades wouldn't be out of the question, especially if you got your cutler to zip some lines down the blade parallel to the fuller before mounting. The H-T complete swords are only $169 at KOH and you could recoup some of that by selling the fittings to some DIY nut. :D The bare blades are around $100. Just a thought. I've often thought the H-T medieval blades could be adapted for basket hilt use.

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Yes, value goes down considerably as you out-source the labor and you'd want it done right.

I just pulled this hilt out and was reminded how beautiful it is in the hand. I still haven't managed to get it bladed up yet. Makers are too busy for the work. It's the oddest thing. I hope to show you guys the finished sword some day and make sure to get photos if it whenever it gets completed!

In the meantime, I was considering Darkwood Armory. Do they do custom blades or simply the catalog offerings? I've heard recent reports of them having great customer service and being very responsive. Scott Wilson of Darkwood Armory seems to have a huge portfolio of work and this is very good indication of his ability to take projects and complete them! Any input would be helpful.

Thank you.

Scott at Darkwood does custom work... He could even do a pierced blade or what have you... His website doesn't really show you the level of work he is capable of. He is also pretty quick with his turn arround time.

Hi Nathan

Very nice piece, congrats on adding that beauty to your excellent collection !

The only bit I know on that original is what the card at Edinburgh Castle stated :
"Basket-hilted broadsword said to have been carried by a Highland officer at the storming of Quebec in 1759."

The baskets design, although much nicer, is kinda along the G5 ones that Mazansky included in his book "British Basket-Hilted Swords", mid (ish) 18th cen. (some of the Pinch of Snuff's also bring some of it's design elements to mind, at least to my old brain ;-)

I just quickly added an album to my Picturetrail site that features several pictures I took of it in 2005 at the following link:
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/24002987

I've also added it to my Eljay baskethilt album that features his work ( I gotta get that better updated too, so if anyone like GG, Ben Sweet, etc., has pictures that are not included please send 'em my way)

Thanks, Mac