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Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > Royal Ontario Museum Reply to topic
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C.L. Miller




PostPosted: Thu 13 Mar, 2008 7:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

L. Bailey wrote:
Hmmm... Do you know what period those katana were from? I was not aware of bo-hi being prevalent.


The wakizashi and the two katana are all listed as being from the Edo period. Top to bottom, the smiths are Fujiwara Daido (c. 1650), Kunimasu (c. 1670) and Fujiwara Tadakuni (c. 1650). The finely formed bo-hi, particularly on the wakizashi, were indeed what caught my attention as well.
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Ken Speed





Joined: 09 Oct 2006

Posts: 656

PostPosted: Thu 13 Mar, 2008 7:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

C.L.


Thank you for the really wonderful pictures. Considering the conditions you had to cope with you did a stupendous job.

I have to ask this, in the first batch of photos you sent there is a picture of a pretty sturdy Viking sword with the lobed pommel.
Do you know what the actual handle is made from? I ask for two reasons; first because it's my understanding that there are almost no Viking age swords that have the existing handle material present and second because I once had an original Marbles hunting knife with the leather ring handle that some fool put in our dishwasher and the handle came out looking like that. I was not amused!

Thanks,


Ken Speed
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GG Osborne





Joined: 21 Mar 2006

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 487

PostPosted: Thu 13 Mar, 2008 8:24 pm    Post subject: Museum pics         Reply with quote

CL......

Thanks! I always like to see new dirks or baskethilts. Could I possibly impose on you to email me the frames showing the dirk and the German baskethilt? I printed them off the Forum posting but the resolution wasn't
too great. I keep a scrapbook of such items that interest me and aren't elsewhere published and I would like to add these to the collection. Many thanks in advance for your consideration.

George

"Those who live by the sword...will usually die with a huge, unpaid credit card balance!"
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Rod S.





Joined: 22 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Thu 13 Mar, 2008 9:21 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks, C.L.! Your photos are great, espeically having been shot through optically-impaired glass.

I'm amazed at the level of preservation for a few of those Viking and knightly swords. Did the display indicate where the better-preserved specimens were found?
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Tim Lison




Location: Chicago, Illinois
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PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 12:14 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

WOW! Great photos! Thanks for sharing these. I love the Viking swords. I also really like the one with the type N (?) pommel. It's very unusual!
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C.L. Miller




PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 12:40 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Ken Speed wrote:
I have to ask this, in the first batch of photos you sent there is a picture of a pretty sturdy Viking sword with the lobed pommel.
Do you know what the actual handle is made from?


There was no information given concerning the material covering the grip, although I'd say it is almost certainly leather. My guess is that the grip is not the original, but rather a later addition. TAs far as additional information goes, he museum does suggest that the barely discernible inlay may read "NILERK," and lists the sword as having been discovered in London. I hope that helps, and if you need more information, I'd definitely suggest e-mailing the museum.
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C.L. Miller




PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 1:25 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Rod S. wrote:
Thanks, C.L.! Your photos are great, espeically having been shot through optically-impaired glass.

I'm amazed at the level of preservation for a few of those Viking and knightly swords. Did the display indicate where the better-preserved specimens were found?


Not all of the swords had locations listed, although some did. In the Viking case, the first hanging sword on the left, which looked to me like a Petersen Distinctive Type 2, was reportedly discovered in the river Seine. The Type S hanging to its right is listed as having been found in London. No find-sites are listed for either the type M at the bottom of the case, nor the exquisite Wheeler Type VII (Type U variant?) hanging at the far right. The designated typology for all swords is, of course, my own best guess and not the museum's own categorization.
In "The Knight at War" case, the first sword from the left has no location listed, the second was found in Lancashire (though still thought to be of German origin), the three-fullered third sword was deposited in the arsenal of Alexandria (although believed to have originated in Italy), while the fourth sword is German.
The Great Sword which appears in photos 34-37 is only labeled as being "probably French or German."
The first three swords in the next case (images 38, 40-45) are all from the Alexandrian Arsenal.
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Nicholas A. Gaese




Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Joined: 06 Aug 2007

Posts: 100

PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 12:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Great photos! I went to ROM during the summer but silly me didn't bring a camera along, didn't know how they would take to that. The selection of photos provided were more than generous, however, did you happen to by chance get a look at the pole arms and the two-handed sword in the lobby? when I was there I became quite fond of that sword Happy. Again thanks for the great photos!

Nicholas
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J.D. Crawford




Location: Toronto
Joined: 25 Dec 2006

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PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 1:50 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

CL, It's funny, I was just in the ROM the other day taking pictures which also intended to post here, but mine did not turn out as well as yours (see below, not enough flash I guess). What particularly interests me is their showpiece viking sword (the one mounted at an oblique angle which also appears in several of your pictures)

Here is the museum's on-line description:

"Viking sword (steel or iron, copper, silver), 900-1000 AD
Steel or iron blade; iron pommel; copper and silver inlay on hilt; hand-forged, chiselled and/or filed and inlaid.
Centimetres: 95.9 (length overall), 80 (length of blade)
900-1000 AD
Viking; 10th century AD; Pommel: Wheeler-Oakeshott typology, Type VII;
Area of Origin: Germany or Scandianvia; Baltic Region
Area of Use: Dredged from the Thames at Vauxhall (London, England); Fairly wide distribution; possibly carried by ship by Viking raiders. A type widely used in Europe and found in Scandinavia, Britain, in rivers along the western coasts of France. Examples have been found in the Scheldt, the Thames, the River Lea, and at York, as well as from the Seine at Paris.
Arms & Armour, Samuel European Galleries, third floor
928.42
ROM2004_1029_14"

What gets me every time I see this sword is how much it looks like a medieval type XIV in profile. Imagine that, a 10th century viking sword that looks and probably handles like a much later sword type. Very cool. I wish someone would seriously consider replicating this sword (or that I had the disposable income for a custom job.)
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Corey D. Sullivan




Location: Canada
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Reading list: 12 books

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PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 2:40 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Now, don't quote me on this, but I heard that if you email the muesum, they will actually send you a photograph of any item that you wish.

Also, I'd like to let people know that I am heading to the ROM this weekend, so if anyone wishes for photographs of particular pieces, I'd be more then happy to try to help. Happy

"He had scantly finyshed his saienge but the one armye espyed the other lord how hastely the souldioures buckled their healmes how quikly the archers bent ther bowes and frushed their feathers how redely the byllmen shoke their bylles and proved their staves redy to appioche and loyne when the terrible trotnpet should sound the blast to victorie or deathe."
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Tim May




Location: Annapolis, MD
Joined: 12 Nov 2006

Posts: 109

PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 4:07 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow C.L. Those are great!

I love the early Type X with the copper inlay. Many of those Viking blades are in fantastic condition. Sorry if I missed it, but were any of those viking pieces found in the North America, or are they all European or Greenland and Iceland finds?
Thanks again for the great pics, now I have another reason to move to Canada!
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Anders Backlund




Location: Sweden
Joined: 24 Oct 2007

Posts: 629

PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 5:23 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That last viking sword is a real beauty. Wouldn't mind seeing it reproduced. Happy
The sword is an ode to the strife of mankind.

"This doesn't look easy... but I bet it is!"
-Homer Simpson.
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Russ Ellis
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Joined: 20 Aug 2003
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PostPosted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 9:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Royal Ontario Museum         Reply with quote

Shahril Dzulkifli wrote:
Judging by their looks, the Viking and knight swords were perhaps archaeological finds.


Some were, however some of the ones with the arabic script on them were kept in the arsenal of Alexandria. You can read details on at least two of those swords in Oakeshott's books. The ROM is the only major museum I've ever had the opportunity to visit and it's really quite an impressive place, there are a lot of good exhibits and even though of course the Arms and Armor were also my primary focus I did take the time to cover the rest.



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TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Shahril Dzulkifli




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PostPosted: Tue 18 Mar, 2008 4:25 am    Post subject: Royal Ontario Museum         Reply with quote

J.D. Crawford, the Viking sword that you are referring to was presented to the museum by the late Dr. Sigmund Samuel in the '20s and here's the photo.
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Ken Speed





Joined: 09 Oct 2006

Posts: 656

PostPosted: Tue 18 Mar, 2008 11:12 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

CL,


I have to say that my heart belongs to that seax in the first picture here. I think the proportions are beautiful and I can't help but wonder what it looked like a thousand years ago. It is amazing to me that so many seaxes look so much like Bowie knives I guess it is a tribute to the timelessness of a good design. Do you happen to remember its approximate length or should I e-mail the ROM?


Thanks


Ken Speed
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J.D. Crawford




Location: Toronto
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PostPosted: Tue 18 Mar, 2008 1:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Royal Ontario Museum         Reply with quote

Shahril Dzulkifli wrote:
J.D. Crawford, the Viking sword that you are referring to was presented to the museum by the late Dr. Sigmund Samuel in the '20s and here's the photo.


Thanks Shahril. Somehow these pictures do not capture the essence of this sword, although CL did as good a job as possible. It needs to be viewed up close and personal to be appreciated. Of course the other war swords, Scottish swords etc. in the same display room are terrific as well. But I always get drawn to this one when I go to the ROM. -JD
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