[Regia-NA] Migration period sword on e-bay

[rmhowe]

My congratulations Kim, you certainly nailed that one.
I thought that handle looked awfully familiar and in good shape.
But I have pictures of quite a few, both drawn and photographed
from many excavations and books more specifically on swords
and the same type is not that uncommon.
The lack of remains of a scabbard didn't really occur to me
as they so rarely survive. I have Cameron's works on scabbards.

An English metalurgist of the 19th/early 20th C whose work
I collect once suggested that silver generally tends to
deteriorate rapidly in the ground due to included acids and
rainwater. Explains this is why so many fewer silver articles
are found in nice condition.
That man was extremely learned by the way and went to Japan
to help them with their modern mint set up. In the process he
recorded the metal mining, refinement, smelting, alloying and 
traditional processes of minting in that country.
Very conclusively. William Gowland. He also wrote about
European antiquities as I recall. His articles are in
diverse journals such as metallography societies and the various
Royal Asiatic Societies.

It's a pity someone will still buy it unawares and there
is probably no good way to warn them other than by sending
this reply to potential bidders. Chivalry apparently has
different meanings to different people. To me, at least,
it includes honesty. Faking a hilt and pommel would not
be among my definitions at all.

I'll be leaving town today and gone for Xmas so will be
off the computer for a while.

Magnus

Kim Siddorn wrote:
> I asked about provenance (full text of my question and opinion at the
> bottom).  I had a response inside five minutes which I pass on verbatim.
> Sounds to me like a decent sort of a chap!
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Kim
> 
> Nice to hear from you - I know quite a few other re-enactors in your group
> Regia! But prefer 15th Century WotR myself :-)
> 
> As for the provenance, this piece came from a German Dealer at the London
> Coin Fair around five years ago. Excavated from Germany or Eastern Europe
> somewhere. When I bought it, it was caked in rust and the original pommel
> and cross were a mess. I took the sword to our conservator who lightly
> cleaned the worst of the deposits and then siliconed the blade.  I also took
> the liberty to have a cross and pommel made for it, so it at least looks
> like a sword not just a blade. As for the original fittings these were far
> too shot to be conserved.
> 
> I in no way feel that this blade is a few hundred years old, a thousand yes,
> so a Crusader blade could be more adequate - I would be able to sell it for
> far more as a Crusader sword than  a Saxon Migration sword. But as this is
> the second time it has been listed, I will be selling it for whatever it
> finally reaches unless it is a NPB again
> 
> I hope this helps?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Adam
> 
> (aka. Sir Walter Devereux 6th Lord Ferrers - Sunne in Splendore 1471)
> (aka. William Parr - Company of Chivalry 1370)
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> E-bay item 377069635
> 
> 
> 
> A number of my friends and I were discussing this blade on our e-group and I
> 've been asked to discover what provenance you can offer for it other than
> "London Sales Room".
> 
> 
> 
> Straight off the bat, I stress that this is just my opinion, nothing more.
> 
>  I'd take a lot of convincing that this is, indeed, a Migration Period
> sword.
> The rust isn't pitted or flaky or dark enough. There are no traces of a
> scabbard. The blade is lozenge shaped and has no fuller - not conclusive, I
> agree, but enough to give one pause, I think. There are other things, but
> that'll do!
> 
> The very fact that it has been fitted with re-enactment-style copies of an
> extant
> pommel & crossguard makes me even more suspicious.
> 
> In my opinion, it is what used to be called a "Crusader Blade". They were
> made in large numbers in Ethiopia and other African  & Asian countries and
> were imported in their thousands as spoils of  British Empire wars and by
> people returning from The Grand Tour. In my judgement, this sword blade may
> possibly be 100-200 years old, but I am certainly open to persuasion.
> 
>  Regards,
> 
> Kim Siddorn
> 
> 
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