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Chris Goerner
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 Posted: Fri 30 Jun, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject: New Basket Hilt by ElJay Erickson |
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Is there anything more painful than waiting for the UPS truck to arrive when you know there's something good on it for you? Well, my wait was greatly rewarded when I opened the box and beheld my new basket hilt from ElJay Erickson! It was based on an original in the Edinburgh Museum which Mac was good enough to post some photos of. Check out the third page of this link: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=5307
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of seeing ElJay's work up close, all I can say is it's amazing! He has a real gift for capturing the authenticity of a piece in its look and feel that is remarkable. Even my wife, who has no real appreciation for swords (though I am working on her) gawked at this hilt and exclaimed, "That is a work of art!"
A friend mounted the hilt on a Del Tin blade that I had purchased from Donnie Shearer. The blade and basket work well together. A little decoration added to the scabbard that Donnie supplied me, and the package was complete. But enough talk -- on to the pictures. I only wish I had a camera that could do justice to the craftsmanship of this great artisan!
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Sic Semper Tyranus
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Ben Sweet
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| Posted: Fri 30 Jun, 2006 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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What a beauty.....o.k...I think I clicked on all the photos...any chance to see an inside shot of the handle?
Congrats  
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Chris Goerner
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 3:08 am Post subject: |
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| Ben Sweet wrote: | What a beauty.....o.k...I think I clicked on all the photos...any chance to see an inside shot of the handle?
Congrats |
Here you go, Ben. Sorry the photo isn't the best quality. The grip is black shark skin bound in silver. The inside of the hilt is painted a flat black to help protect against rusting. The black against black doesn't work well for my camera.
Chris
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Sic Semper Tyranus
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William Goodwin
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 6:52 am Post subject: |
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Well, well, well........what an amazing piece....big 'ol congrats Chris! Guess it's show & tell time at the Goerners again huh? I'm guessing Will G. put it together for you? Did he peen it together?
You'd better stick that in the car with you tomorrow, 'cause I'm a wantin' a real close, hands on, look at this beauty.
Know your very chuffed about this one.
Cheers,
Bill
Roanoke Sword Guilde
roanokeswordguilde@live.com
"I was born for this" - Joan of Arc
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 8:51 am Post subject: |
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Congratulations, Chris! Your new Eljay baskethilt looks like a very fine piece. I'm quite envious!
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Henrik Bjoern Boegh
Location: Agder, Norway Joined: 03 Mar 2004
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 9:50 am Post subject: |
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Congratulations, Chris!
This must be the finest looking replica of a Glasgow hilt that I've seen... Lovely!
Eljay's work is beautyful, as allways.
How did you decorate the scabbard? Just soaking it with water and tooling it???
Cheers,
Henrik
Constant and true.
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Bill Grandy
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 10:35 am Post subject: |
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Absolutely stunning! Man, I need to make it back down to Roanoke sometime to visit. You've got some really nice pieces, Chris!
HistoricalHandcrafts.com
-Inspired by History, Crafted by Hand
"For practice is better than artfulness. Your exercise can do well without artfulness, but artfulness is not much good without the exercise.” -anonymous 15th century fencing master, MS 3227a
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Chris Goerner
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Henrik Bjoern Boegh wrote: | Congratulations, Chris!
This must be the finest looking replica of a Glasgow hilt that I've seen... Lovely!
Eljay's work is beautyful, as allways.
How did you decorate the scabbard? Just soaking it with water and tooling it???
Cheers,
Henrik |
Henrik,
Though the hilt looks very similar to a Glasgow hilt in the photos, it is actually a Stirling hilt. If you were to see the hilt in person, you would better be able to see that it lacks the deep center grooves on the bars of the hilt so typical of the Glasgow school. the fluting on the rear guard and additional rear guard are vertical, rather than following the curves of the guards. These things are hard to see in the photos, so I'm not surprised that it appears more like a Glasgow hilt.
As for the scabbard decoration, I have a tool that actually cuts a shallow groove into the leather. I use it to set my stitching below the surface of the leather, cutting down on the amount of wear the thread is exposed to. I often use this tool for decoration as well, as I did on this piece.
Chris
Sic Semper Tyranus
Last edited by Chris Goerner on Sat 01 Jul, 2006 6:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Chris Goerner
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| Posted: Sat 01 Jul, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| William Goodwin wrote: | | I'm guessing Will G. put it together for you? Did he peen it together? |
Bill,
Yes, your long lost twin, Will Goodwin, is the one who helped assemble the sword for me. He had quite a bit of material to remove from the tang to match the pattern ElJay sent with the hilt. Instead of peening the tang, he threaded it, which I prefer.
I will definitely bring it along tomorrow for show and tell. See you then!
Chris
Sic Semper Tyranus
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Thomas McDonald
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Sun 02 Jul, 2006 7:35 am Post subject: |
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Congratulations, Chris !
What an excellent version of that beautiful Stirling basket .... Eljay really captured its fine details!
(but I suppose we've come to know that with Eljay :-)
I've added your new piece to my PictureTrail album of "Baskethilts by E.B. Erickson".
I had the pleasure of meeting Eljay this past week and he's as nice a guy as you'd ever hope to meet !
*He'd mentioned he'd done this piece for you when I was showing him pictures of my Scotland trip and came across that one !
Here's a link to pics from his visit : http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7225
Again, Congrats, Mac
Original inspiration
*Photos: T. McDonald, 2005 - Edinburgh Museum, Canongate.
'Gott Bewahr Die Oprechte Schotten'
XX ANDRIA XX FARARA XX
Mac's PictureTrail
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Sun 02 Jul, 2006 11:56 am Post subject: |
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Simply beautiful
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David Martin
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Joined: 11 Apr 2005
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Sun 02 Jul, 2006 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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Absolutely stunning... Eljay is an artist of singular talent. Every time I see the fruits of his labors, I calm myself and repeat my mantra: "Someday... Someday... Someday". 
"When war-gods meet to match their might,
who can tell the bravest born?
Many a hero never made a hole
in another man's breast."
- Sigurd, The Lay of Fafnir
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William Goodwin
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| Posted: Sun 02 Jul, 2006 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Got to put me grubby paws on this sword today.
WOW! is all that needs to be said.
Thanks Chris for bringing it.
Cheers,
Bill
Roanoke Sword Guilde
roanokeswordguilde@live.com
"I was born for this" - Joan of Arc
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Henrik Bjoern Boegh
Location: Agder, Norway Joined: 03 Mar 2004
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 5:44 am Post subject: |
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for claring that up! I could have sworn it was a Glasgow hilt. But now I know better
In the pictures of the original it is easier to see how the fluting really is.
Thanks for sharing the pics, Mac!
Cheers,
Henrik
Constant and true.
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Chris Goerner
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| Henrik Bjoern Boegh wrote: |
Thanks for claring that up! I could have sworn it was a Glasgow hilt. But now I know better
In the pictures of the original it is easier to see how the fluting really is.
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Also, hilt has wider bars than one would expect from a typical Stirling hilt, making it appear more like one of its Glasgow counterparts. Without having good quality photos to pick up on the details, I can see why you would have guessed Glasgow.
Regards,
Chris
Sic Semper Tyranus
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Ben Sweet
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 9:56 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Chris for posting the handle photo! Now we're just missing the hand inside shot
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Thomas McDonald
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Chris Goerner wrote: | | Without having good quality photos to pick up on the details, I can see why you would have guessed Glasgow. Regards, Chris |
Aye, Chris .... I guess you'll just have to send it to me to photograph for you !
I'm sure I'd send it right back in a month or three ;-)
Here are a few more photos of the original I snapped that day !
Mac
'Gott Bewahr Die Oprechte Schotten'
XX ANDRIA XX FARARA XX
Mac's PictureTrail
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Henrik Bjoern Boegh
Location: Agder, Norway Joined: 03 Mar 2004
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 1:36 am Post subject: |
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HAHAHA! I'll second that! Send it to Mac for a photo-session!
Thanks for posting the pictures, Mac. It's a lovely looking sword. Do you know what the actual inscription says?
And another thing; the bars seem to terminate pretty far on the "front" side of the pommel (on the original). Is this normal?
Cheers,
Henrik
Constant and true.
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Thomas McDonald
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 5:27 am Post subject: |
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| Henrik Bjoern Boegh wrote: | HAHAHA! I'll second that! Send it to Mac for a photo-session!
Thanks for posting the pictures, Mac. It's a lovely looking sword. Do you know what the actual inscription says?
And another thing; the bars seem to terminate pretty far on the "front" side of the pommel (on the original). Is this normal?
Cheers, Henrik |
Hi Henrik
A few bits on the top line of the inscription are a little tough for my eyes to be positive on, but I believe it reads:
"Belonged to Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector"
The next lines are famous battles & dates of his, with the Puritan war cry giving "Praise" to the "Lord of Hosts"
Naseby Battle June 14 1645
Dunbar Battle 3 Sept 1650
As far as the hilt goes, it does seem to be a bit off kilter !
My guess would be that either this is not the original blade, and was fitted poorly, or that it got bent and tweaked at some point and was never corrected ? The leather washer in the blade seat leads me to believe this hilt has been apart before (maybe had a liner originally ?), and the pommel's peen has me thinking "missing capstan nut, maybe ?"
Well that's me story & I'm sticking to it ;-) Mac
'Gott Bewahr Die Oprechte Schotten'
XX ANDRIA XX FARARA XX
Mac's PictureTrail
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