Gilding on European Medieval Swords

AHorsa · 15th October 2025, 09:52 PM

What amazing findings Lee! Thank you for sharing and also from my site congrats that the sword shown first is authentic!

Best regards
Andreas

cornelistromp · 16th October 2025, 01:30 PM

Hi Lee, super interesting! Could you please tell me more about the technique used and what all the numbers mean?
The first sword looks good and authentic in the photo, in my humble opinion. What were your concerns there?

vbw, Jasper

Lee · 16th October 2025, 03:24 PM

Thank you Gentlemen!

The numbers on the 'maps' are the points where a reading was taken. I was using an Olympus Vanta handheld XRF device, so the 'points' measured are of about a quarter of an inch in diameter or so. This instrument will download a file of the device's interpretation that may be imported into a spreadsheet for manipulation (as well as the raw spectra data, should one have the skill to interpret that) and I can then note functional location and features and sort the array of readings by that, as the numbers label the lines in the spreadsheet.

It gets overwhelming quickly and the interpretations presented in this thread are merely "was gold detected - yes (a gold dot on the spot) or no. As I prepared this reply I returned to the spreadsheet to get the composition of the latten (medieval brass) of the inlay and then I noted that lead accompanied the gold where it was found. (Fortunately, the Internet led me to an academic paper explaining how this could improve adhesion of the gilding.) By the way, should you be curious, the latten was 65% copper, 34% zinc and 1% lead, rounding to the nearest percent. I will explain more about my methodology when I present my upcoming thread on elements associated with iron inlays and pattern-welding.

My concerns for authenticity arose from 1) I bought this sword in the late 1980s at a gun show in the US admittedly from a British dealer that I had dealt with previously and 2) a few bladesmiths of my acquaintance had expressed concern about what they felt was a lack of robustness of the tang.

Triarii · 17th October 2025, 02:23 PM

That crowned orb is very similar to those found on German export blades, but I don't know by how much this predates the C16th and C17th.

16th October 2025, 03:24 PM	#3
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 967	Thank you Gentlemen! The numbers on the 'maps' are the points where a reading was taken. I was using an Olympus Vanta handheld XRF device, so the 'points' measured are of about a quarter of an inch in diameter or so. This instrument will download a file of the device's interpretation that may be imported into a spreadsheet for manipulation (as well as the raw spectra data, should one have the skill to interpret that) and I can then note functional location and features and sort the array of readings by that, as the numbers label the lines in the spreadsheet. It gets overwhelming quickly and the interpretations presented in this thread are merely "was gold detected - yes (a gold dot on the spot) or no. As I prepared this reply I returned to the spreadsheet to get the composition of the latten (medieval brass) of the inlay and then I noted that lead accompanied the gold where it was found. (Fortunately, the Internet led me to an academic paper explaining how this could improve adhesion of the gilding.) By the way, should you be curious, the latten was 65% copper, 34% zinc and 1% lead, rounding to the nearest percent. I will explain more about my methodology when I present my upcoming thread on elements associated with iron inlays and pattern-welding. My concerns for authenticity arose from 1) I bought this sword in the late 1980s at a gun show in the US admittedly from a British dealer that I had dealt with previously and 2) a few bladesmiths of my acquaintance had expressed concern about what they felt was a lack of robustness of the tang. Attached Images

15th October 2025, 09:52 PM	#1
AHorsa Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Rhineland Posts: 378	What amazing findings Lee! Thank you for sharing and also from my site congrats that the sword shown first is authentic! Best regards Andreas

16th October 2025, 01:30 PM	#2
cornelistromp Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,064	Hi Lee, super interesting! Could you please tell me more about the technique used and what all the numbers mean? The first sword looks good and authentic in the photo, in my humble opinion. What were your concerns there? vbw, Jasper

17th October 2025, 02:23 PM	#4
Triarii Member Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: Bristol Posts: 147	That crowned orb is very similar to those found on German export blades, but I don't know by how much this predates the C16th and C17th.