[Syl Lamotte]

Hello,

I search photos of Jineta swords :
- Sword of the "Marquis de Villalegre" and "Baron de Sagarren" at San Sebastian, museo de San Telmo
- Sword of Alcazaba in Malaga
- Sword of "Don Pedro Pidal", "Fernando el Catolico"
- Sword of Georges Pauilhac, musée de l'armée in Paris

I just want to compare them with the others.

Now they aren't on google ... i'm still searching...

Thank you

Syl

[Shahril Dzulkifli]

Syl,
The jineta sword that you mention is better known as nimcha. This sword originated from Morocco.

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Syl,
I'm unclear on exactly what you're searching, but I'm assuming those particular swords, and I cannot say exactly where they might be found. If it is the sword type referred to as a la jineta, then there are a number of references on them. There were some pretty good discussions on these back in 2002 , and the swords of El Cid were key in point, with the examples being noted as 'Colada' in the Royal Armoury at Madrid (now rethought to actually be the 'Lobera' of St. Ferdinand) and hilted in the 15th c. His other sword 'Tizona' believed held in the Army Museum in Madrid, had the blade material tested, and it is believed forged in one of the Moorish Caliphates in Spain, probably Cordoba c.1100. The hilt also is of the much later 'Jineta' form.

The ornate 'Jineta' (from Ar.Zaneta, Moorish tribesmen from Morocco) with its drooping quillon guard in typically regarded as 15th century. Good references are shown in "Spanish Arms and Armour", Calvert, 1907; there are brief references in "Swords and Hilt Weapons" (Coe, Barnes & Noble), though admittedly quite general. As always, the blades were often much earlier and remounted. I cant think offhand of others, but Juan Perez who I believe often writes here is absolutely the most well versed on Spanish swords.

To clarify on the 'nimcha' which does in some ways carry the gestalt of the jineta, it is a Moroccan sword which seems to have developed its distinct multiquilloned hilt system sometime at the end of the 16th century. It is interesting to note that the hilt on these seems to actually have evolved from earlier sword hilts from N.Italy or Venice, and in turn having influenced early Arab sword hilt styles via trade route influences. (ref, "A Late 15th Century Italian Sword", A. North, in the "Connoisseur" Dec. 1975, pp.238-241).
These are known to have become favored in the Maghreb and became popularly associated with the 'Barbary Pirates' , with Victorian collectors probably aligning the 'nimcha' term for them (actually these are locally referred to simply as sa'if (Ar. =sword).
Another interesting characteristic of these nimcha/Moroccan sa'if is that they invariably are mounted with full size sword blades from Europe and even England.

I hope this information might provide useful, as I have found both topics most interesting, and information on both sword types is not always readily found, and I wanted to share from earlier notes and discussions on them.

All best regards,
Jim

[Syl Lamotte]

Hi,

Sorry about my late answer...
I was talking about 15th century granadan swords (not nimchas, but it's interesting too ).
It was about a work to compare physically the different hilts

See the picture below :
(Top left to right)
1 - Sword found in Sangueza, pommel is missing (XIIIth century ?, probably the oldest known)
2 - Sword of the Cardinal Infant Don Fernando (Real Armeria in Madrid)
3 - Sword said to be of Sayyidi Yahya (Casa de los Tiros, Granada)
4 - Sword of San Marcello de Leon (museo archeologico, Madrid)
5 - Sword said to be of the Sultan Boabil (museo del ejercito, Madrid)
6 - Sword "bèrbère" (armeria real, Madrid)
7 - Sword hilt
8 - Sword of the "Cabinet des Médailles" (B Nat, Paris)
9 - Sword of San Telmo (San Sebastian)
10 - Sword said to be of Abindarraez (MET museum, NY)
11 - Sword of the Kassel Museum (Germany)



Thank you guys for your time !

Syl