[Glen A Cleeton]

The decorative work could be thought as tricks but more in line in using other tools. 'Some filing" I like that

What would "Ben" Hunt do? One of my first books given as a young boy was the Indian Craft&Lore book. In the back of it were pages of very finely lined grids for laying out bead work. On other pages of metal and leather work, how to fashion decorative punches

Cheers

GC

[Nathan Robinson]

[Brian K.]

The more I look at this sword, the more I want one. A very nice addition Roger. Congrats!

[Leo Todeschini]

All the professionals are coming out of the woodwork for this one and justifiably so; that is a fabulous job A and A have done.

Well done to all concerned.

Tod

[Roger Hooper]

The sword is getting a very positive response - so what is its appeal? .

I think that it may be the unusual combination of being both simple and complex. On one side, the hilt has a minimalist design with just a knucklebar and no side branches, but still with a pleasing overall shape. On the other side, it has the complicated star and moon patterned pierced, plates, which I haven't seen on any other sword.

And overall, it looks like a sword that really means business.

I'm looking forward to wielding this Walloon, to see how it handles. Craig wrote me that it feels, "pretty lively in the hand and solid in the hilt".

[Roger Hooper]

Here are a few more photos that Craig just sent me. I like the scabbard chape. I've never seen one like that before.

[Eric G.]

Wow. The more I see the work that A&A does the more I realize what a great eye that Craig and his crew have for getting these pieces correct down to every last detail. It's good to see that they are so deserving of the comment that Mr. Oakeshott gave them.

You have yourself a beautiful piece.

[Jean Thibodeau]

In the bottom pic, two posts above, I think that the piercing of the plate creates a pattern of bright spots that echo the reflections of the grip's wire wrap and makes the whole look rich in visual detail.

And the contrast of this visual texture is nicely balanced by the basic simplicity of the shapes in the guard: If this was a very much more intricate style, with lots of activity, the file work might overwhelm and make the whole " fussy " rather than a balance of visual complexity versus design simplicity ...... or, in fewer words, beautiful work.

[Bob Burns]

Gorgeous, Absolutely Gorgeous! Chris and Craig being full fledged Swordsmiths, I believe there is nothing they cannot accomplish! That's one gorgeous walloon sword, in fact it's radiant!
Bob

[Roger Hooper]

Craig sent me some of his Still Life variations on the Walloon sword. Someone (sadly, not me) should pick up a paintbrush and put one of these onto canvas.

[Nathan Robinson]

That looks damn fine. I especially like the first photo in this last series.

[Bob Burns]

I just emailed this page to my cousin who IS an award winning artist, has a membership to this website. He is the Chief Art Historian for the US Airforce, on base has papers and I'd as a Colonel and not a Lt Col. He would also love to do medieval and reanaissance art commissions. Jim is my dad's, sister's son. Has had a number of water colors and pen and ink art on international museum tours!
Can be found on internet under: James Conahan. Not sure of website address off hand. But with the air force he sits down with various ranking generals and colonels.
By the way this is some awesome photography right up there with Nathan Robinson's talent!

Bob

JimConahan.com

There are a few art galleries on his website. NOT some run of the mill semi-talented artist!
Age 7 he could draw better than art teachers in high schools. A God given enormous talent which he does thank God for such an extreme gift. There are some photos that used to be in here but I don,t know quite how to find them.

[Roger Hooper]

The Walloon sword is now in my possession. Everything that has already been said about it is true, so what more can I say? The photographs don’t do it justice – it is even more impressive in person to the hand and eye. The star and moon pattern on the pierced plates is beautifully done and must have taken a long time to complete. I sure hope that they didn’t get 75% through the file work, and then mess up one star and have to start over again. As with all 17th century Northern European swords with side-rings and thumb loops, the plate with the thumb loop is a little narrower, giving the hilt a slightly lop-sided look. The thumb loop side has a maximum of 6 rows of stars, the outboard side-ring plates has a max of 7 rows of stars.

I was worried about the grip length. Craig said it was 3.188 inches long. My hand needs 4 inches to fit comfortably inside a hilt. Craig assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem. When I picked up the sword, I found that the handle extends beyond the turk heads on both sides, giving the extra room. Also, the heel of my hand rests nicely on the slope of the pear-shaped pommel.

At 3 lbs., with a fair bit of metal in the hilt, the sword is of a medium weight. It isn’t feather-light lively, but it handles quite well with a lot of authority. With a little practice, it should feel great in my hand. It’s cut and thrust, with emphasis on the cut.

I got a bonus with the scabbard. Like most of us, I have more swords than scabbards, and many of them are leather sheaths. I always hope that a new sword will fit one of them, but that almost never happens. For my previous custom sword from A&A, the 17th Century Military sword - I got a simple sheath. That sword deserved better, and of course it didn’t fit any of my other scabbards. For the Walloon I commissioned a good wood-core scabbard. You can see a picture of it up-thread. After it arrived, just for kicks I slipped the 17thC military into the new Walloon scabbard. It fits perfectly! I can use it for both swords.

If I haven’t said it enough, this is a very cool, very wonderful sword. As I said at the beginning of the thread, nobody has done a recreation of this Walloon type until now. It took a lot of planning, artistry, time, and hard work to make this sword a reality. Arms and Armor is one of a very few entities around the world that can make a complex hilted sword like this one, at this highest level.

Finally, many of you have probably come across this link – if not, here is a short article from the Legermuseum in the Netherlands, with a technical description of one of their Walloons, and a history of the type.

[Glen A Cleeton]

This really is a great piece Roger. Kudos to you and the shop. If I were not such a hampster brain in my own collecting habits, something along these lines would be welcome on my walls. I look forward to more adventures from A&A as well as more impressions on this one as time goes by.

Cheers

GC

[Roger Hooper]

I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this thread, but I wanted to post a few of my own photos of this amazing sword. I don't know why there are no good production versions of Walloons available to buy.

[Sam Barris]

Oh, that is very nice. Very, very nice. Congratulations on a fine acquisition.