A Curated Miscellaneum

Small Sword

This sword was purchased by the future George IV in 1789 to further enhance what was already a substantial collection of historic weapons. In the manuscript catalogue of his Armoury at Carlton House this sword is said to have been given by the Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740) to the first Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and its hilt - like that of the so-called Hampden sword and the embossed parade shield - was attributed to Benvenuto Cellini.

While the second of these claims can be set aside on the simple grounds that Cellini made no swords, the supposed provenance, though uncorroborated, is not so implausible; Charles VI did indeed present a sword to the Duke of Marlborough in 1703, but that sword had a hilt set with diamonds. The iron hilt demonstrates a range of techniques executed to the highest standard. The pommel, with its four-headed tang-button (or finial), shells and quillons, is forged, chiselled and pierced; while the grip, which is made of wood cut with spiralling grooves in two directions, is bound with steel wire and overlaid by a further network of twisted wire.

The precise subject matter of the figurative decoration has not been identified. On one side of the pommel is a scene of soldiers in Roman dress approaching a town, and on the other is a group of captives led before an officer standing in a chariot. The larger scenes on the shells are the same on both sides, one in the opposite direction to the other; they comprise a cavalry combat with a commander in a cartouche, and soldiers presenting captured colours to a commander. The quillons are in the form of satyrs, and the other secondary motifs include serpents, masks and naked, winged children. The blade is probably a near-contemporary replacement.

A saber with attached pinfire revolver, Italian, dated 1864.

Stephanie Seymour by Herb Ritts for Vogue UK - Thierry Mugler

Caravaggio c. 1598

Saint Catherine of Alexandria (detail)

Tsuba with design of geese in flight

Japanese, Meiji era, 1883

“Heroic Style” Silver Mounted Dagger

The dagger has a straight, double-edged blade with three fullers. The massive, silver hilt has its the grip worked as the in-the-round depiction of Heracles, wearing the skin of Nemean lion, while hitting a dragon with his dagger, the wings of the dragon consisting in the quillon. The scabbard is made of silver. The cap is worked as an architectonic structure with arch enclosing circles depicting portrait of a female figure (probably Athena) and a lion.

The central mount is decorated with two bas-relieved scenes, one depicting a sailing ship full of warriors holding their lance, the other a battle between heroes of classical epoch, one of them holding a big shield featuring a snake (the shield with Erichthonius snake was the symbol of Athena), under the two scenes a bas-relieved, grotesque figure, on the chape high-relieved owls between olive wreaths (other symbol of Athena). The surface of the scabbard features floral engravings.

Someya Tomonobu, 1822

Hunting Sword with Scabbard

Small Sword and Scabbard

The hilt of the sword is of cast and chased gold. The pommel is in the form of a barred helmet surmounted by a recumbent lion. The grip and guards are studded with numerous diamonds set in the form of bands of foliage. These elements are probably by a German goldsmith, active circa 1750. After the sword had been acquired by George IV around 1820 it was embellished with additional diamonds by the royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. The scabbard has two large brilliant stones that were also supplied by Rundells.

An officer’s sword,19th Century, Europe

Man and woman fencing / Anonymous photographer / silver print from glass plate negative / England, 1910.

Sword of Honour offered by the city of Paris to Marshal Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929)

Marshal Ferdinand Foch was a French soldier, military theorist and the Allied Généralissime during the First World War. Foch was regularly compared to Napoleon and Julius Caesar. Foch’s pre-war contributions as military theorist and lecturer have also been recognised, and in the early 20th century he has been credited in one instance as “the most original and subtle mind in the French Army”.

Luke Pasqualino & Howard Charles in ‘The Musketeers’ (2014). x

Collection of Daggers, 18th/19th century. 1 + 2 Japan 3 Buthan 4 Persia 5 Arabic States. Zeller auctions

Fencing Fashion

For whoever fancies a little fashion and some swords.

Edward J. Kelty. X-ray of Ajax, the sword swallower. 1928

[::SemAp FB || SemAp::]