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Anders Backlund
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Posted: Tue 25 Dec, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject: Katzbalger-style guards? |
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So, while checking out Lutel's stuff, I found that many of their hand-and-a-half swords had katzbalger-style guards. So far I've only seen this on custom swords, so I guessed it was due to Lutel taking creative liberties with their designs. (Which I don't at all mind; I like the style and all but fell in love with one of those models.)
Still, lately it got me wondering: are there any historical swords other then the katzbalger itself that have had this specific type of guard? (S-shaped, 8-shaped, etc.) It just strikes me as wierd that it would have been restricted only to a single type of sword.
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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Posted: Tue 25 Dec, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: Katzbalger-style guards? |
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Anders Backlund wrote: | Still, lately it got me wondering: are there any historical swords other then the katzbalger itself that have had this specific type of guard? (S-shaped, 8-shaped, etc.) It just strikes me as wierd that it would have been restricted only to a single type of sword. |
There are indeed a number of hand and a half and even some two handers with this style of guard. If I ever get a spare moment and new scanner I can try to post some. (It will be a while)
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Bill Grandy
myArmoury Team
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Posted: Tue 25 Dec, 2007 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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And there were even daggers with this style of guard, so the full spectrum of blade sizes seems to be included with this style.
HistoricalHandcrafts.com
-Inspired by History, Crafted by Hand
"For practice is better than artfulness. Your exercise can do well without artfulness, but artfulness is not much good without the exercise.” -anonymous 15th century fencing master, MS 3227a
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Justin King
Industry Professional
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Anders Backlund
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Posted: Wed 26 Dec, 2007 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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Chad Arnow wrote: |
There are indeed a number of hand and a half and even some two handers with this style of guard. If I ever get a spare moment and new scanner I can try to post some. (It will be a while) |
Bill Grandy wrote: | And there were even daggers with this style of guard, so the full spectrum of blade sizes seems to be included with this style. |
Cool! Though, are all mid-sized swords with these guards of katzbalger-type? (With the other characteristics like pommel, grip, multiple gores, etc.) Or were there "regular" (so to speak) arming swords featuring them as well?
Ah, thanks. I did make a search before I posted this topic, but I must have missed that one.
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Justin King
Industry Professional
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Posted: Wed 26 Dec, 2007 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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The mushroom-shape pommel is "sort of" particular to katzbalgers although not all katzbalgers had them, some had different styles of pommel and I also seem to recall seeing some examples that have added bars on the guard, apparently evolving into a basket hilt of sorts. Whether all of these can properly be called katzbalgers is probably subjective, I'm really not knowledgeable enough to comment beyond that.
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Hal Siegel
Industry Professional
Location: Austin, Texas Joined: 30 Aug 2003
Posts: 113
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Posted: Sun 30 Dec, 2007 9:01 am Post subject: |
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Plate #128 of "The Triumph of Maximilian" shows a squad of ten landsknechts holding two-handed katzbalgers. The guards look more like a double loop, but that's clearly a problem with perspective in the woodcut, as several of the landsknechts have traditional short katz's and the guards are identical to those on the big-uns.
Way back in the dawn of modern reproduction time before Museum Replicas was bought by Windlass, MRL offered a two-handed katzbalger made in Germany by Oskar Kolombatovitch. Most of my droogies went ga-ga over Oskar's "Austrian Masterpiece" longsword, but I still have the two-handed kat I bought back then. Overall length is 53", the blade is 41".
Hal Siegel - TherionArms
http://www.therionarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/TherionArms
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Allen W
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Posted: Sun 30 Dec, 2007 10:30 am Post subject: |
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Actually The Austrian Masterpiece and Landeschnecht two-hander were made by Johann Shmidberger of Austria. MRL only carried Kolombatoviche's rapiers, parrying daggers and a colichemarde of his.
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Hal Siegel
Industry Professional
Location: Austin, Texas Joined: 30 Aug 2003
Posts: 113
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Posted: Sun 30 Dec, 2007 11:01 am Post subject: |
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I stand corrected.
Johann Schmidberger (note spelling) had a website in Germany that went 404 a couple of years ago.
Oscar Kolombatovich still has some swords listed at American Fencer's Supply.
Hal Siegel - TherionArms
http://www.therionarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/TherionArms
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C. Gadda
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Posted: Sun 30 Dec, 2007 12:24 pm Post subject: Schmidberger's current URL |
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Hal Siegel wrote: | I stand corrected.
Johann Schmidberger (note spelling) had a website in Germany that went 404 a couple of years ago.
Oscar Kolombatovich still has some swords listed at American Fencer's Supply. |
This is not correct. I was able to track down his current website through various diabolic means awhile back. Try this:
www.schmiede-schmidberger.at
I'd very much like to place an order for one of his Katzbalgers such as he used to have in the MRL catalogues back in the day.
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