[Nathan Robinson]

While browsing through the Inventory Catalog of the Higgins Armory Museum, I came across an interesting basket-hilt:


HAM 1979.04.06

This is described by Jeffrey L. Forgeng of the Higgins as:



Origin: Germany (perhaps Solingen)
Artist: Blade signed "Jacop Brach"
Date: 1575-1650
Materials: Steel; iron; brass; wood; modern restorations
Weight: 2 pounds, 8 ounces
Dimensions: 115 cm O.L. x 14.5 cm W

Description:
Narrow, fullered thrusting blade with long ricasso. Openwork, symmetrical basket hilt of iron bars. All are flattish, with oval swellings having dentated edges, at the bars' mid-length. The crossguards are flat, turned slightly towards the blade, with rather lozenge terminals. Restored wire-wrapped wooden grip with Turk's heads at the ends. The globose pommel with button is writhen in a manner resembling a turban.


Now if you really look at this, you can see that the construction is very similar to that of the schiavona in that the bars all initiate from and terminate at the cross-guard.

The bars are also pierced, similarly to this basket-hilt, dated circa 1570:


Click photo for full-sized version

I had used the above basket, amongst others, as inspiration for the one I had EB Erickson create for me:


Click photos for full-sized versions

I was excited to add yet another "inspiring" basket-hilt to my database. As I find each of these, I realize that the style was perhaps not as uncommon as I previously had thought.


Further info on the Higgins sword from Jeffrey L. Forgeng:

Marks:
"JACOP BRACH" on an inlaid brass strip on both faces of the blade near the hilt. An indistinct stamped mark is found above this.

Comments:
This is part of a preserved group of five swords, plus two detached hilts. In addition to ours there are those in an American private collection, the collection of Mr. H.L. Visser (Wassenaar, Netherlands), Kost Castle near Prague, castle museum Pypesteyn (Netherlands), and the two hilts in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Label text:
During the sixteenth century, the increased use of weapons such as pistols, and changes in swordfighting techniques and the swords themselves meant that hand armor was often not worn. This required sword hilts to become the hand defense, evolving into a complex network of bars. This particular example--one of only seven recorded--is a rare form of "basket hilt."

Exhibitions:
"A Double-Edged Weapon: The Sword as Icon and Artifact," in-house exhibit, 20 January - 5 November 2000. Also venue at National Ornamental Metal Museum (Memphis, TN), 25 February - 8 July 2001.

Bibliography:
Jan-Piet Puype, "The Visser Collection: Arms of the Netherlands in the Collection of H.L. Visser" (Zwolle: Waanders, 1996), 2 vols., no. 543 (HV-833).

[Steve Grisetti]

Interesting and attractive hilt construction, Nathan. And thanks for the catalog link!

[Thomas Hoogendam]

Very attractive, both the original and the modern sword that inspired by it.

Thanks for the pictures and the info Nathan!

[Dominic Dellavalle]

Gorgeous looking sword there. You guys are going to be my undoing, I just know it. When I first came to this site I was just a longsword fan. The more and more examples I see of these basket-hilts the more and more I want one.

And while we're at it why not a nice rapier?

Oh and a nice claymore too!

Glad to see that link is getting some use too. I burned it to CD last night and began the arduous task of printing it out to bind and put with my other books.

Nathan, I was thinking since that PDF file has such a large amount of information across so many cultures/era's would it be worthwhile to add it to the link page? Just a thought.


~Dominic

[Gordon Frye]

Nathan;

How cool! I share your love of early basket-hilts, and it's always fun to find new examples to compare to the others, and to try to figure out the geneology of them all.

Thanks for posting that! Hopefully soon we'll have some pictures of "Nathan's New Basket Hilt from E B Erickson"!

Cheers,

Gordon