1780's Brit/Irish/American? cavalry sword

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

Could Wyatt be the merchant that sold the sword? Many guns of the period were marked not by the maker, but by the Birmingham merchants that sold the goods to the clientele. Perhaps a search of merchants for the time period might yield something?

Well made point Mark. In many cases not only in England, but Germany and others, blades were indeed marked by retailers or 'sword slippers', who acquired the blades and components from suppliers. In England for example, was the well known J J Runkel, whose name appeared on so many swords he was long thought to be a maker. He simply imported blades from his contacts in Germany, as was a common practice there over the years.
In Germany, P. Knecht was a merchandiser of swords, not a maker, but his name is profusely seen on blades.

I think C.C. suggested "Swords for Sea Service".....perhaps something there or in Southwick? I do not have these with me presently as the bookmobile is on the move and weight & balance did not permit as many books as I would like.

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

In Germany, P. Knecht was a merchandiser of swords, not a maker, but his name is profusely seen on blades.

Peter Knecht was a "Schwertfeger" (there is no translation for this term).

The job of a "Schwertfeger" (direct translated = Swordcleaner) is to polish the surface, put blade and handle together and fit the blade into the scabbard. In most cases the "Schwertfeger" also sell the finished sword and often was more famous and earned much more money than the blacksmith itself. He was a merchandiser and artisan in one.


Roland

[Hotspur]

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...nfo&highlight=

His first queries (found thus far) began in Feb. 2002 on sfi forum; there a very spirited discussion compiled much data similar to what we added here.

Do you have a link to the 2002 thread?

Cheers

GC

[Jim McDougall]

Roland, thank you so much for the proper explanation and perfectly explained description of the activity of Knecht. I believe that those very circumstances were much more common virtually in all countries with those assembling swords and those smiths who provided them. As American colonists were not only British, but European as well, these situations certainly prevailed here.

There fore Mark's suggestion of searching merchants records is well placed and perhaps why the name Wyatt is not found in makers lists, but probably in the kind of circumstances shown by Ibrahiim's pertinent entry.

Glen, I was hoping you might enter in here, as when it comes to swords in these fields, your knowledge and expertise are well known in these forums.
Thank you for linking the 2002 discussions. I am always happy to see old threads revived and 'cold cases' revisited, as often new evidence and examples can be brought together with the older material.

[Hotspur]

Glen, I was hoping you might enter in here, as when it comes to swords in these fields, your knowledge and expertise are well known in these forums. Thank you for linking the 2002 discussions. I am always happy to see old threads revived and 'cold cases' revisited, as often new evidence and examples can be brought together with the older material.

The thread I linked is the 2015 thread. As far as I know, there was no thread of Will's from 2002. Many of us have been around since then but Will introduced the sword last year (afaik).

Cheers

GC