[Lin Robinson]

Just wondering if anyone has seen this trademark before. It is on a Scottish "S Hilt" broadsword probably dating from the mid to late 17th c. It looks familiar to me but I cannot find any reference to it in my library. Unfortunately the mark is difficult to see in its entirety.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[E.B. Erickson]

Looks like the "Orb and Cross" mark. Unfortunately it was a fairly common blade marking in the 1600s, so I doubt that you'll be able to find its origin.
Are there other marks on the blade?

--ElJay

[Lin Robinson]

Thanks for the reply. I continued to look for another example of the mark on any other blades and came up empty. Since it was a common mark it probably just doesn't get mentioned when data on sword blades is published. I don't know if there are any other markings on the blade but will ask the owner. Since this was common in the 1600s, it matches the suspected time frame of the blade's manufacture.

Thanks again for your help...

[Luka Borscak]

I have seen orb and cross mark on some 16th century swords too... If I'm not mistaken it's a Solingen mark...

[Jens Nordlunde]

ElJay is correct.
Thai mark was used a lot in the 16th, 17th and early 18th century. The attached is from an Indian gauntlet sword.
The gauntlet is of wootz, and the blade very flexible and pattern welded - so it is an Indian copy. North India 17th to early 18th century.

[Neil Melville]

Yes it is the imperial orb and cross mark, used widely by South German blade smiths in the 16th-17th centuries, and maybe earlier. And, as Luka suggests, it may have been copied later by Solingen smiths. No surprise to find it on the blade of a Scots broadsword as almost all their blades were imported from German smiths.
Neil