Arrow in Scroll makers mark?

[corrado26]

In addition to my above post I added two drawings by Aries, Grenadier Sabres of 1767, two versions of 1770 and 1780 and produced by the Klingenthal factory. I also looked for this blade with the particular spine of an arrow but could not find such a blade by either at Aries, L'Hoste or Bugné.

[Jim McDougall]

It does seem like the 'ARROW' theme occurs in some variation in blade motif but mostly on private swords such cuttoe/hangers where these kinds of themes were extremely popular, especially in France.

Possibly this is why the ARROW theme devices dont show up in Aries which is focused on military swords, though the book I have (not at hand) by Buigne & Lhost does deal with occult themes on private swords.

The images are found in notes.....(my terrible artwork) on a 'pandour' type cuttoe mid 18th c. the motif in orientalist style but note the device with arrows and fletching connected to what appears a bow.

The page from L'host and Buigne (title not available yet) at bottom of page are the scroll type devices added at blade spine in some of these swords, and note similarity to the device in question with arrow. These blades are notably, according to these authors, associated with Caissagnard, in Nantes.

[Radboud]

Thank you for the images out of Aries, Corrado, I have L’Hoste and Blondieau but unfortunately not Aries.

Looking at those images of the Grenadier m1767, the blade looks remarkably similar to mine; almost as they came from the same source. I think we can be confident that the blade on my sabre was modelled on the m1767.

[adrian]

But what I'm intrigued about is this scroll pierced by an arrow mark on the blades' spine.

Balance the sword to see if the 'arrow' has anything to do with its point of balance, either at its arrow-head or its mid-point.

[Radboud]

Originally Posted by adrian

Balance the sword to see if the 'arrow' has anything to do with its point of balance, either at its arrow-head or its mid-point.

That's a good suggestion, I hadn't considered that. Although the balance point is at about 140mm so not close to the mark. Also it's quite an eloborate detail to show the balance point.

[Jim McDougall]

In the illustrations I posted, some of these kinds of 'squiggle' marks, clearly on the spine of the sword blade have a strange resemblance to the arrow mark on the example posted.
With this suggestion in mind, what could be the meaning of these types of marks without the arrow?

For reference, it is my post #6, the three figures at bottom of the page.

[Radboud]

Hello Jim, the three figures from the page in L'Hoste's book "Armes Blanches Symbolisme Inscriptions" are commonly referred to as "Solingen Roses" and seem to appear on many Solingen produced blades between about 1780 and 1830.

There's a lot of variation in these and unfortunately the meaning of them is unknown. But my anicdotal observations suggests that they become less complex over time until they disappear.

You will recall we have discussed these in the past and I posted a thread about them here: 'Rose' Mark on the spine of Solingen blades