old moorish sword ?

francantolin · 28th March 2026, 06:42 PM

Hello dear members,

What do you think of this sword,
Said to be moorish from the 13th century.
Original ?
Strange the shagreen covered hilt, later replacement ?

Reventlov · Yesterday, 12:05 PM

That one has been on the auction circuit for a while - the claimed origin has changed apparently. I do not think it is genuine, but it purports to be a distinctive Baltic type of hilt, from the area of Lithuania and Prussia. Several are decorated in a very particular style, as on this example in the Bargello Museum. (Note that here the Baltic hilt components have been combined with a much later blade.) The same style can be seen on a number of rare axe-heads. Vytautas Kazakevicius' book IX-XIII a. Baltų Kalavijai has more information about these swords, which he calls the Desiukiskes type, after one of the find-places.

Name: Bargello, R82.jpg
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Name: Bargello, R82.jpg
Views: 115
Size: 205.3 KB

Name: Poznan, Arch. Mus. - Zagan, Gubin.jpg
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28th March 2026, 06:42 PM	#1
francantolin Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 957	old moorish sword ? Hello dear members, What do you think of this sword, Said to be moorish from the 13th century. Original ? Strange the shagreen covered hilt, later replacement ? Attached Images

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Yesterday, 12:05 PM	#2
Reventlov Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 145	That one has been on the auction circuit for a while - the claimed origin has changed apparently. I do not think it is genuine, but it purports to be a distinctive Baltic type of hilt, from the area of Lithuania and Prussia. Several are decorated in a very particular style, as on this example in the Bargello Museum. (Note that here the Baltic hilt components have been combined with a much later blade.) The same style can be seen on a number of rare axe-heads. Vytautas Kazakevicius' book IX-XIII a. Baltų Kalavijai has more information about these swords, which he calls the Desiukiskes type, after one of the find-places.