My husband recently acquired, what we were told, were medieval weapons, from his grandfather who has passed away. There are 4 of them in a display stand. Including the wooden handles, the weapons are aproximately 5 to 6 feet long. I have attached a picture, I hope, that will show what I am trying to explain. As you have probably guessed, we are completely new to the field and do not know where to begin to find out information about them. We would like the weapons dated and find out where they came from. The are awesome pieces and great discussion starters. We had them displayed in our hall until we had a son and had to put them up so he couldn't get hurt.

Any help I could get on where or how to get them dated, or actually any information I could get on them would be very helpful and I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!!![img][/img]

Okay - I see the picture did not attach. Let me try again.

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To me these weapons look like weapons from the so called Boxer revolution in China,in the end of the nineteenth century and are linked to the chinese martial arts,but it's just a guess

The one in the forefront with the reversed hook on one side appears to be a boarding pike. Close up photos of the heads of each and any interesting details of them would help any who might have information for you.

They're Asian, to be sure, and they look like good quality arms intended for use as opposed to decorative pieces. I would second Martin's 19th c. dating. Stone's Glossary most likely shows these, but I don't have my copy handy.

The big one is a Kwan dao, or looks like it. Big knife on a pole. There are a few on WLE.com which look similar. I don't know what the trident is, or the last one.

I agree with the 19th century Chinese opinion, that's what came to mind the second I saw them. Now that you know what to loosely base your search for information on, finding books on the subject will be much easier. Good luck, :D .

Here is a pic I found on this site: http://thomaschen.freewebspace.com/photo4.html (pop-ups unfortunately)

[image removed because of linking issues. see the link above-^]

The Trident looks to be a Chinese Tiger Spear Page 629, figure 800 picture 3 in George Cameron Stone's Glossary of Weapons.

The Kwando is also a Chinese weapon.

The others if they came from the same source/purchase may also be Chinese but could be European boarding weapons or
siege types that were used to move around " facines " or dirtfilled wicker baskets that were the period equivalent of sandbags used for field fortifications. They would also serve as weapons.

So I would say that two of them are identified as to type but exact period unsure and two could also be Chinese with the possibility that they are not.

From the Frazier:

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