English Basket Hilt Cavalry Sword, circa 1580 to 1610
English Basket Hilt Cavalry Sword, circa 1580 to 1610
English basket hilt cavalry sword, circa 1580 to 1610. A very early form of a basket hilt sword with a single edge blade which has probably been reduced from a double edged blade. German blade makers marks. The fish skin covered hilt with wire wrapping is black with age. Guard attached to a globular pommel with screws. Blade has been cleaned. Hilt has a brown finish with some minor corrosion. These early swords are scarce. This type of hilt has been found at colonial site excavations.
http://www.ken-drake.com/english_basket_hilt_sword.htm

http://www.ken-drake.com/

Mac


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Hmmm .........

That's a pretty sight. Thanks for posting the pics Mac. And your "hmmmm" is right on target as well.

Cheers,

Bill
Yes, I also noticed the resemblence to Eljay's design, though, of course there are some significant differences, IMHO all in favor of the replica. I wonder what Eljay's hilt will look like in 400 years?

I wish Ken Drake had listed the blade length and overall weight.. That sword looks like it is pretty light.
Roger Hooper wrote:
Yes, I also noticed the resemblence to Eljay's design, though, of course there are some significant differences, IMHO all in favor of the replica. I wonder what Eljay's hilt will look like in 400 years?
I wish Ken Drake had listed the blade length and overall weight.. That sword looks like it is pretty light.


Is it just me .... or does this hilt have a fairly modern look to it ?
Maybe it's just the photo's, or my old eyes, but its steel seems to lack that nice old pitted & porous look that one would expect on a sword of this period ? Maybe it's been cleaned, patina long gone, but you'd think it would at least match the wear of the blade?
Some of its guard elements also seem a little thin where a lap weld would thicken them ?
I'd have to guess the grip is a replacement, too( which is quite common on old swords) , as it's in very good shape !

I dunno ..... this is just my opinion, and certainly could be in error, ?, but my Spider-sense is tingling ? ! !
I'd luv to see a closeup/high-rez shot of the hilt .... maybe that would clear up my doubts ?

Regardless, it is a very nice sword !

Other thoughts ? , Mac
* Please know that I am not calling anything, or anyone, into question here, as it's hard to be certain when judging things from pictures on the internet ? This is just a good opportunity to discuss what we each see when trying to determine age on these things ! So smile, Big smile :-)


Last edited by Thomas McDonald on Sun 03 Apr, 2005 8:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
* Comparison *

On the left is a hilt by Eljay Erickson that was made approximately 8 years ago, c. 1997-98 .

Mac


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Hmmm... hey! Why are we all humming? Don't we know the words? Enough bad jokes. As far as I can tell, that's not one of mine. However, I do think we're looking at a composite sword, for the reasons mentioned above.

Now what I was hmm..ing about was that I did make one of these for Jim Perry back in the early 90s, and I don't think that it showed up when his collection was dispersed after his death. Anyone know where it is?

--ElJay
I'm no expert on this type of hilt, so I really do mean this as a question...

Do the screw heads seem a little modern as well? Comparing them to the limited number of photos I have of other swords of the same period, the heads seem a bit thin and rounded.

Mac or ElJay -- can you shed any light this? Does this observation seem valid, or are the screw heads consistent with other examples you have seen?

--Chris
Chris,

I'm not Eljay or Mac,but your observation does have a valid aim. The srews do have a "machined" look to them as the slots look cleanly fashioned. It could possibly be that they were just replaced at some point.

Bill

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