Peter Johnsson custom sword -- myArmoury.com

Tim Lison · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 10:37 am Post subject: Peter Johnsson custom sword

I contacted Peter Johnsson about a year ago about making a commission sword for me. To my surprise and delight he accepted! We had a lot of back and forth discussion about what type of sword to do. I was torn between a viking type sword and an early medieval type. Eventually, I decided on the early medieval type. I knew I wanted a brazil nut pommel and a simple guard. I also wanted a scabbard for it. From there, I let Peter take over. The sword he made is a quintessential early medieval sword. The sword follows Peter's hypothesis on medieval sword design. It is the jewel of my collection. I will post some stats later but it is about 38 inches long. Handling this sword is a joy! It feels like an extension of the arm! It has authority but is still nimble. Anyway, here are some pics...thoughts and comments are welcome. I hope you all enjoy it!

Roger Hooper · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 11:28 am Post subject:

Congratulations on joining a very exclusive club - those who own Peter Johnsson custom swords. Sadly, I am not a member. That's an interesting pommel, I guess a type B, though I've never seen one exactly like it. What exactly is the grip made from? Some kind of wire wrap, but again, kind of unusual, to my eyes at least.

It's a beautiful piece. It must be wonderful to have a sword that functions exactly like an early Medieval sword was supposed to function.

Robin Smith · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 12:09 pm Post subject:

Turned out lovely Tim! The scabbard is particularly interesting, as it is an integral lacing not normally seen in the reproduction market....

As I've said to you in our correspondences, wire wraps are not normally my thing, but I do like this one in particular. I like the larger-than-normally-seen diameter of the wire used for the wrap. Very cool!

Luka Borscak · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 12:23 pm Post subject:

I love it! (As anything by PJ actually Wink

) I love the subtle curved guard, unique grip, interesting pommel, proportions of the blade... What is the blade length and width?
Btw, the pommel reminds me of this one:
http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/usages_mythe...G_0931.JPG
http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/usages_mythe...G_0934.JPG

Tim Lison · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 1:07 pm Post subject:

Josh S · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 2:46 pm Post subject:

So this was the sword displayed next to the Ljubljana on Facebook? Very cool -although not exactly surprising- that it belonged to a myArmoury member Razz

Patrick Kelly · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 3:34 pm Post subject:

I wondered who the lucky owner of that sword was. Congratulations, now you know what the fuss is all about. I love the scabbard, very interesting details there.

Tim Lison · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 3:49 pm Post subject:

Eric Sherwin · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 4:35 pm Post subject:

Beautiful, unique sword from a true master. You're a lucky man!

Matt Corbin · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 7:13 pm Post subject:

Congratulations Big Grin

That is a very, VERY nice sword. You have every right to be proud.

Patrick Kelly · Posted: Tue 02 Jul, 2013 10:31 pm Post subject:

Tim,

There appears to be a slight gap between the wire, is there a leather covering beneath it? The belt attachment is very interesting to me, as I've never seen that particular pattern. I'd like to hear Peters thoughts on that.

Ian Hutchison · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 12:38 am Post subject:

Whatever, I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's basically just my H/T Norman with a fancy grip...

J/k, it's amazing and I'm super jealous.

Peter Johnsson · Industry Professional

Thank you guys for your kind words.

It is great to know the sword is with you Tim. The process of making goes from something barely imagined to an object that has a reality all of its own as it goes out in the world from the workshop.

The pommel is indeed of a type you rarely see in reproductions but it survives in a number of originals.
Geibig classifies the pommel as type 14 if I am not mistaken (I am writing this away from my books: better double check this as I get home :-). The guard has a subtle curvature to it, almost a sea gull wing form. You see this on swords spanning a pretty wide time frame actually.
With this hilt type and blade shape the sword would be dated to the early or mid part of the 12th century.
It is long and slim with good reach. Its point of balance is pretty far away from the hilt, but its overall mass is low. This makes for a sword that combines a nimble balance with authority when committed to a slashing/cleaving cut.
The blade is fairly thin and the fuller is not very deep. This is another feature it shares with some 12th century swords.

The scabbard is an attempt to make a mid 12th century style. Looking at art from the period we do not see the iconic integral laced belt of the 13th and early 14th century of the kid we are used to. Instead there are some enigmatic depictions of thongs in a basket weave in the upper quarter or third of the scabbard. It also seems like the slashes in the scabbard cover is still includes a central cut, like a remnant of the scabbard slide of previous centuries. This was what I came up with to combine those features depicted in art. A prequel to the laced belt of the later periods.

Below are a few examples of depictions of swords with this kind of suspension.

Any questions and comments are welcome.
-Thanks!

Peter Johnsson · Industry Professional

The grip is wrapped with half round silver wire (hammered to shape in a simple little anvil specially made for the purpose).
The wire wrap is indeed inspired by a sword in the army museum of Paris, just like Tim mentioned. This was a first for me, but I think it turned out nicely. It makes for an unusual look for the hilt as we normally see leather covered grips on these kinds of swords. In art there may be suggestions of other kind of wrapping having been in use more commonly than we see in the surviving material. So based on those few examples of alternative hilt wrappings and depictions in art there is a little field for careful creativity left open.

The silver wire is bound down edge to edge. What looks like gaps between the turns are shadows and the effect of a slight patination with liver of sulphur. This is to give a little bit of color and contrast to the otherwise unadorned and bright hilt.

Matthew G.M. Korenkiewicz · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 7:33 am Post subject:

At first I too kinda thought ... hmmm, what's the fuss ? pretty simple design, I guess what
makes it super-special is that it was done by Mr. Peter Johnsson ... And of course, I'd bet
Mr. Lison would agree that having one of the premier makers known -- I'm sure well beyond
this humble forum, of course -- produce something is as close to a sword aficionado's dream
as one might get ...

Then I remembered my own " dreamy ideas " if you will ... and simplicity is always at the
heart of my projects. So I came back to take another look, maybe jot a word or two, and can --
of course from a limited perspective -- appreciate what I see ... specially when reconsidering
the planning and efforts Mr. J puts into achieving the historical-ness ( if you don't mind me
making up a word here ) of an item.

Heck, I've taken a look at some of his website and can't for the life of me make sense of everything
taking place ( probably cuz I majored in English, and you can tell how well that plays sometimes
when I use words like cuz ). I figured Mr. J was some sort of madman, or just outrageously
astute ... well, I ramble.

Congratulations Mr. L on achieving a new benchmark with your collection !

As always, Mr. J, regardless of what I might like about this or that, your work -- even to a lowly
English major, hehe -- is beautifully and obviously intelligently accomplished.

Taylor Ellis · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 8:04 am Post subject:

That's a beautiful sword Tim, I'd love to own a Johnsson piece one day!

Daniel Wallace · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 9:39 am Post subject:

i especially like the silver wrap - defiantly not something you see everyday. the simple swoop of the guard - it somehow give the sword a graceful quality.

Bryan Heff · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 11:07 am Post subject:

Very nice indeed. At first glance the pommel certainly looks spherical. Quite an interesting and fairly unique pommel, I think it sets the sword off really nicely. I REALLY like the blade profile on this. Congratulations.

William Swiger · Posted: Wed 03 Jul, 2013 11:22 am Post subject:

Very nice sword. Congrats on a very impressive work of art.

Leo Todeschini · Industry Professional

A beautiful and elegant sword and another piece of glory from the anvil of Peter.

I got to handle this sword at the Park Lane Arms fair and it is quite lovely as you would expect and the finish is also flawless or at least harmonious. It also had a strange effect on me in that when looking at the sword from a few paces away it looks really quite small, definitely elegant, but small. It is only when I got it into my hand that I realised it was a full sized sword - I have never encountered a 3D sword optical illusion before!

Tod