I was fortunate enough to visit the Higgins Armoury Museum again last week. I decided to share few picture of a new exposition of featured there as well as few pictures of a sword that falls in an Oakeshott Type XIX which was recently covered here.

The type XIX sword is dated to 1470-1490 and is thought to be of English origin. One of the most striking things about the sword (apart of its beautiful hilt components) are its edges wich carry the scars of use. There are more than a dozen small nicks on the edge showing that the edge med the other at an angle and not directly (edge to edge). The interesting part is that this still left an indentation on the edge. I appologize for the poor quality of the picture included but the nicks on the edge are visible. The blade is engraved and not inlaid.

there was a brief mention of a bearing sword in an article featured on this site, but it is hard to appreciate the size of these beasts until a point of reference is presented. The pictures bellow should serve this purpose. the size of the harness is that of an average person (~5 ft 10in). This sword (HAM 1901) is of Passau origin and is dated to the 15-16th c. The weight is 14lb 11oz and the overall length is 84 1/8in. ?!?!? :eek:

The last picture is of of a schiavona. It is the first I have seen in person and I have to say I was pleasantly surprized. Rather nice. I have no information on it but I hope few forumites will appreciated as well .

Enjoy,

Alexi

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The hilt

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Very impressive, Alexi! Thank you for the pictures! Of course, there is no way to know under what circumstances the damage to that XIX occurred, but it certainly lends credence to the concept that weapons could accumulate a fair number of dings in use. The overall outstanding shape of that piece suggests to me that it was NOT abused. Quite the contrary, it looks in your pictures to be remarkably well cared for!

Thanks again for sharing!

--Doug

I never meant to imply that the weapon was not cared for or that it was abused in any way. Indeed as you noticed it is well preserved. What I wanted to emphasize was that if a weapon is used (properly) it will still accumulate some marks for it. The other interesting think which does not show on the picture is that the nicks demonstrate the angle at which the blades met.

Alexi

Oh, don't worry, you made the point perfectly, Alexi! :D It was obvious, even to me, ;) that this weapon is in exceptional condition. Although I can't really tell from the pictures that the contact was not made squarely edge to edge, I trust your assessment, and that provides some evidence to support what I've been reading from others on this list. I merely wanted to point out that even a novice like me could understand it, based on your pictures.

Is there any additional documentation with the sword? Your point that it is "believed" to be english suggested to me that its entire history is unknown. There must be a fair bit known about it, though. It certainly doesn't look like it was just found in a river a few years ago. Was it in a private collection or museum for the last 500 years? Found in a barrel of axle grease? :lol:

It looks to me like the hilt was more exposed, as if the blade was well-greased and put away in a scabbard, but the hilt left exposed for the grip to perish and the furniture to pit a little. What impression did you have of it?

--Doug