Inspired by my attempt to document known examples of basket-hilts by the great Stirling makers of the 18th century, the Allans,
I've recently put together an album that features 32 unique examples by one of our great modern day hammerman,
the one and only Vince Evans !

Although my compilation does not include all of the baskets Vince has made it certainly showcases a good majority of what he has done in this department over the last few years ! Considering the fact that he was quite busy doing a variety of other styled swords, knives, and whatnot, his output of these complex hilts is simply astounding (especially in light of the level of craftsmanship he sinks into each piece) !
5 in 1999, 6 in 2000, 7 in 2001, 4 in 2002, 6 in 2003, and 4 in 2004 ..... the man has been flying !

* And least we not forget his having to deal with the Rodeo Fire of 2002 (which almost took his home & business) and moving up to Washington this past year, to set up shop !

Several of the swords, that are included here, have never been posted online before (that I am aware of) so look for those in between viewing some of the favorites we've come to know & love !

To view this album please click on the following link : Basket-hilts by Vince Evans

Enjoy, Mac

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good claymore that's right !

Quite a monumental task you have undertaken Mac. I'm going to have to spend some time perusing those files.

Vince seems quite prolific and I include here a snippet of a mail from him in 2002
"I've done over 1300 swords and knives and 84 folders"

I was suprised to hear he had moved shop. I'm a little slow on the uptake and just figured this out in the past couple of weeks (yes, I live under a rock).

Cataloging, in pictures, all his creations would probably prove a futile venture but you've made a great effort here to gallery one genre.

In the same battery of mails I exchanged with him, he was able to name the day a piece was finished, in 1995. If he has kept track of it all, there really is a comprehensive list in his hands.

It's all a little mind boggling.

Cheers and Merry Christmas

GC

Hi Glen

Thanks ....

Yes, Vince keeps excellent records .... every piece has it's own serial number, date, and crib notes !

He was kind enough to supply me with several photos (beyond the ones I nicked from his site ;-) but some of the missing basket-hilts either did not get photographed, or are somewhere in the lost world of floppy disk un-retrievability ?

For privacy reasons all the detailed information stays with Vince, and his customer(s).

It would be a daunting task to try and catalog, in pictures, every piece he's done ...... but just think of the visual ;-)

Truly an amazing body of work in a relatively short period of time !

Mac

Very nice!
Vince's work is simply amazing!
Just how many of these swords do you own yourself, Mac?

Cheers,
Henrik

Wonderful stuff! God bless ye, Mac!
(BTW I haven't heard back from Pat yet. I'll try calling him after the Holidays.)

say Mac, would you ever sell that 2 handed claymore by Vince someday?

you seem like a baskethilt person, you don't need that 2 hander sitting oddly with the others.

Wow! I never get tired of looking at Vince's work. Thanks for your work in putting this collection together, Mac. I never appreciated baskethilts until I started reading your posts (and Nathan's) and taking the time to look at the pictures you (and he) posted. I've really come to appreciate what works of art they are. God bless and Merry Christmas.

FYI
I've added a hyperlink (below the hilt shots) that will take you to an overall view of the piece, where ever I was able to find a picture of one!

Mac

Has Mr. Evans ever made a Mortuary sword? Do you think he'd be interesetd in making another?

Hey Mac,

I have been tempted a long while to throw all my production goodies onto the market and and commission a couple of high end pieces.

a vince evans claymore and a maybe a reproduction of a two hander I have always liked.


i can only imagine what your claymore is like Mac. my big question is that i don't think i could bring myself to actually use it!

Vince Evans makes Baskethilts??? :wtf:

When did THAT happen and why didn't I get the memo? :mad:


Mac,

I see you're trying to corner the market on Evans Baskethilts. Won't work. Mine's not for sale. Don't think Ron Luciano's interested in selling his, either.

Any progress in coming out to Vegas in January for Vegas Classic and Antique Arms Show?

You may note that I've edited this posts title from '31' unique basket-hilts" to '32' , as I discovered I actually did have a picture of one of the missing VE baskethilts !

Late last year ( December, I believe) Vince had sent me a picture which featured 11 "in-progress" pieces he was working on at the time, most being just out of the forge, but with a couple alot further down the road to completion !

In the mix I noticed this Stirling hilted broadsword starring back at me and knew right away that it was not one of the ones that I had accounted for ! Given the timetable of the photo, and some of the other projects he was working on at the time, I suspected it to be that first basket-hilt of 2004 that he had told me about, but had not photographed ( or at least he'd thought he hadn't ..... who knew 'ol Mac would start digging thru the archives ;-)
Anyways ....
I conferred with Vince about it and he confirmed that it was indeed the first of the 4 basket-hilts he'd made this year, 2004.

The photo is not the best, a tad grainy, etc., and I did do a bit of air bushing to remove the other blades that were crossing it, but all in all it gives a pretty good idea of the piece he made, and brings our VE basket-hilt tally to a grand figure of 32.

Slàinte, Mac

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