Unknown short sword, old Moorish sword?

[kai]

Hello Roland,

The workmanship doesn't strike me as Chinese nor SE Asia.

I think the symbols and number are added later.

The number is done very differently than the moon and "stars" - the latter might be old/genuine and point to Europe, indeed.

The number doesn't strike me as anything sensible to do to a working blade (with the outer margin of the first number coming close to the [hardened?] edge); thus, I'd go for a later addition (and musea as well as collectors are known to have done dumb things to their pieces)!

Regards,
Kai

[Victrix]

The sword looks like you would imagine a moor pirate sword to look like. The man-in-the-moon suggests that it’s not Islamic but European. The number 1748 looks like it was stamped into the sword rather than engraved. Could it be to commemorate the year in which this weapon was captured by its owner? There seem to have been a number of British-Spanish engagements in that year and it seems to have been when the Austrian War of Succession ended.

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Roland,

The number is done very differently than the moon and "stars" - the latter might be old/genuine and point to Europe, indeed.

The number doesn't strike me as anything sensible to do to a working blade (with the outer margin of the first number coming close to the [hardened?] edge); thus, I'd go for a later addition (and musea as well as collectors are known to have done dumb things to their pieces)!

Regards,
Kai

I think as you, the number and symbols were added later to add mor importance to the blade. The number is clearly stamped in. Earlier collectors has been pretty ruthless in this point. Many old blades got collection stamps like this one, sometimes even above decorations.

Best,
Roland

Originally Posted by Victrix

The sword looks like you would imagine a moor pirate sword to look like. The man-in-the-moon suggests that it’s not Islamic but European. The number 1748 looks like it was stamped into the sword rather than engraved. Could it be to commemorate the year in which this weapon was captured by its owner? There seem to have been a number of British-Spanish engagements in that year and it seems to have been when the Austrian War of Succession ended.

Yes the number is 100% stamped in the surfce, which is a clear indicator, that the number was added later. I think like you, it is a special date or simply the date, when it was aquired.

Roland

Originally Posted by Will M

The 1748 is a stamping and is the same or similar to German stamps from the late 1800's found on their firearms etc.
The moon appears to be a later but older addition with its outline unbroken seeming to miss any deep corrosion.
This blade also looks very much like a machete to me.
Many older blades have an iron tang with steel blade but I don't see and forged welding where the two would meet.

Yes, the style of the stamped numbers is typical for the 18th ct. The blade is short but heavy and it feels like the modern French Foreign Legion machete-sword, which is an enourmous large and heavy machete. Unfortunately there is no picture of the French machete in the Internet. I own two of them for training escrima techniques. If someone wish to see a picture of one of the last swords in use, please ask me.
Tang and blade seems to be made of one kind of steel, no scarf welded techniques. In the next days I will make a test with my salt to bring out the pattern, which hopefully gives more certainty.

I tend to believe as it was said in the comments, it seems to be a European Falchion/Malchus.



Roland

[fernando]

Any more ideas, Gentlemen ?

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by fernando

Any more ideas, Gentlemen ?

Hello Fernando,

the blade seems to be in the right forum now.

To get more safety I'm going to check the blade with etchant.

If the result is good enough I will show the pattern. I would expect sheer steel on a late Medieval European blade.


Roland

[fernando]

[M ELEY]

One other possibility...Numbers of this type were not always dates, commemarative or 'rack/unit' numbers, but symbolic/magical in a sense, I can't remember the word! ( ), nuministic?? Something like that. Seen on early Dutch swords, etc. It would go along with the crescent moon symbol as well-
Mark