Looking for info and pics of originals of this type of messer and also if its ever been reproduced to a good quality. Messers are a newfound passion - falchions mean germanic brother..

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Albion will be making them here soon. They'll look something like the drawing the prototype.

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...eister.htm

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...photos.htm

and the big one....

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...knecht.htm

I hope this helps...

Arma Bohemia has one that I'd pic up in an instant if I hadn't promised my wife that I'd pay off all of my custom orders first before I bought anything else.

http://www.armabohemia.cz/imgnew/epees/epees/EP29v.jpg

They also have this one:

http://www.armabohemia.cz/imgnew/epees/epees/tesak1v.jpg

Tod's Stuff makes messers. I've heard good things about Tod's daggers, enough so that I have 2 on order. Tod's a pleasure to work with.

http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/html/messers.php

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After doing some serious looking into the messer-market there seem to be very few high quality repros done so far, not surprising i guess. Albion is leading the way with high quality stuff coming soon tho, but in this case i wish they would set prices according to weapon length...

Ive come across some nice illustrations including messers in my futile searches;

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My comment on pricing a sword according to length was ofcourse a JOKE! Comon fellas..

And yes the hilt of that messer you have done displays unusual skill and it was really vexing trying to figure out who might have made it, now i know more, thank you. Its really amazing work and as usual the Guild of St Olavs members has amazing equipment.
And thank you Peter for the rundown on the messer, you confirm my suspisions that the messer is no pushover to manufacture - just like armouring what is preceived as "simple" (milanese) is the hardest to get right, and few can do it.

Regarding the guard:

No, it is not based on any single original. I normally give myself freedom to work within a style, rather than copying a specific single original. There can often be feaures in several originals I want to combine.
Sometimes I incorporate features seen in art (There are many depictions of these weapons in late 15th C art). I try to take note of hilt details whenever visiting art museums, to have material for variation and inspiration.
Even if I have drawings and measurements of a selection of original swords, it is fun to develop the actual shaping from other sources. Sometimes you see an appealing sword or dagger in a painting for an altar. There might be a detail in the hilt, the scabbard or even something about the whole weapon that is the basis for a new project. Perhaps there are several weapons that contribute in this way: no surviving specimen might exist today that share this exact design, but there might be weapons of the same functional type that can give clues to the character of the weapon.

The treatment of the volume with bevels, ridges and hollows can be seen on hilts of other types of weapons as well, not just messers. Even in iron work that is not weapon related, like hinges and reinforcing decorative bands on chests and furniture this play between diagonals and bevels can be seen. It is really a basic feature in the late gothic repetoir of decorative iron work: it can be seen in most any application of iron work, developed to various degrees.
The Victoria and Albert museum in London has a nice gallery displaying iron work from different periods. Next time you visit, make sure to spend some time there, and you will see how skillfully the shape is vitalized by simple use of bevels and decorative cuts. Such work is a major source of inspiration to me when working on sword furniture.

The basic type of guard was in this case inspired by a messer I documented in Skara County Museum. The final shaping of the hilt was inspired by a painting in Köln, where one of the soldiers arresting Christ was armed with a very fancy messer. The sculpting of the bevels was also influenced by a painting in the National Gallery in London (depicting a completely different type of sword, but with something going on that was somehow in character). All of these sources are contemporary: late 15th C. The original weapon in Skara is a very simple and utilitarian affair and even has another type of blade: a straight pointy wedge shaped thing. The blade as it finally came together is basically a scaled down version of a hand and a half messer in the store rooms of the Royal Armouries in Stockholm, but it has also been influenced by a few other weapons I got to handle in the Bayerishes Armé museum in Ingolstadt.

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Peter, your work and research is (as usual) second to none. Once more its getting hard to settle for anything less then Albions products.

Peter,

That is an absolutely beautiful messer. I've developed quite an interest in these weapons, thanks to your work on them. I love the shaping and proportions of this hilt. Do you have any photos of the whole sword? I'd love to see them.

Thanks , glad you like it :)

...but sorry, no pics. I am not very good at documenting my own work I am afraid.

The blade is really just about identical to the Meister.
If you can imagine the Meister blade with my hilt, you got it.

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Wow Peter, I don't mean to sound like a fanboy, but that is one mean looking weapon. You've really developed a good instinct for capturing the asthetic of European edged weaponry, elegance and grace with a strong undertone of the sinister...

Keep up the good work amigo

Jean

Here's a full-length view of Peter's messer:

http://www.olofsgillet.org/marsch/images/_MG_1733.jpg

Check out neighboring images for views of the scabbard. In fact, take a look at the entire image archive. Amazing stuff!