I cannot believe these basket hilts you have acquired! This one is amazing, and everything about it seems to be in the manner of John Simpson #2 of Glasgow who was admitted Freeman of Hammermen of Glasgow in 1711. He died in 1749 (Whitelaw, 1934, p.307) .
On the underside of the guard, if this hilt is marked it would be I.S.
G
It might not be signed , but it seems to follow hilts by him, so perhaps the shop .
Similar seen in Wallace (1970, "Scottish Swords and Dirks" #32. ) as 1730-40.
In "Swords and the Sorrows" (1996), p.32, 1:18 is strikingly similar and carried at Sheriffmuir (1715) and Prestonpans (1745) and of course Jacobite.
The pierced 'heart' (triangles) and dot configurations are in same manner.
The blade is of course far earlier than the first quarter 18th of the hilt.
Solingen in the fuller is one of many applications of markings on these earlier blades, and typically there will not be a date, or for that matter a maker name.
The marking is a Solingen version of the crescent moon mark often used on Spanish blades in 16th into 17th c. along with makers punzone, believed to indicate the espadero del Rey, maker to the king. These seem to have been sometimes added to blades as of course quality suggestion or similar imbuement.
I have a 'mortuary' which dates c. 1640s possibly Hounslow, or so suggested, having a Solingen ANDREA FERARA blade with a mark very similar, which suggests your blade is likely around mid 17th c.
The import of German blades is of course well known, with the ANDREA FERARA blades most ubiquitous in Scottish context. Apparently there was a 17th c. shipwreck off the Scottish coast which when found yielded over two thousand blades.
Remarkable example!!!!!
|