Dave Kelly Collection 2017
Mar 16, 2017 2:31:44 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on Mar 16, 2017 2:31:44 GMT
Collection 2017
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INTRODUCTION:
It's almost two years since I last did a complete update. The old file was started in 2010. After several server moves and even more hard crashes, the old file was getting very tough to manage, and wouldn't give title changes any more. ( We won't even mention the last big butt crash...er, I did.)
1. 200BC - 1000AD
Ancients is a small portion of my overall collection. 1200 years summarized with 10 swords.
The swords weren't the driving motivation for the display. Stationed in Germany in the 1970s I visited a lot of Roman sites. Cleves in the lower Rhine was a legion site and Capitol of Charlemagne later. Remember a nice old Roman museum there. First thing to greet you in the alcove was a full dress imperial legionaire. The memory stuck. It was something I wanted to do soon as I started my disease. Most of the items are Deepeeka. A few acessories from Windlass finished the piece.
(top to bottom) 1. Old Phillipine VA gladius. The hilt is non reg, but an excellent weapon. 2. Movie tribune gladius from "The Eagle". Legion Officers were well paid and their kits were more elaborate. 3. New VA Hispaniensis. Too big. 4. and 5. Deepeeka spatha. Accurate but clumsy. 6. Windlass Migration Period Sword. Dark Ages. Sweet sword. 7. The Ulfbert. Perennial. 8. Windlass Suontaka. Really not a bad piece. 9. Deepeeka Aalen Spatha ( There is a 10th Sword. The Legionaire carries an old Mainz beater.
One of the newer Deepeeka entries: the Aalen Germany spatha. The helmet for an Imperial cavalryman of the 3d Century AD. Both the Helmet and the spatha would become common wear for both horse and foot soldiers in the late empire.
Roman Republic: Officer helmet on the left and a Gallic converted Montefortino A foot helmet. Used to buy a lot of Deepeekas from Ming Loo in California; when nobody else had them in stock. They went under in 2016. KoA is now the US Deepeeka distributor.
2. Medieval 1050-1500
Tucked away in the corner, between my premium swords, are ten classics from the economy class retailers.
1. Hanwei Edward III sword. 2. Windlass Arbedo. 3. Windlass Classic Medi old. 4. Windlass Classic Medi new. 5. Hanwei Albrecht II type XVIII. 6. Windlass classic German type XVIII. 7. Windlass Flaired Forte Sword. 8. Windlass Milanese Sword 9. Windlass Sword of Roven. 10. Windlass 15th Cent ring hilt. Addition to the racks there are two overhead Great Swords: A Windlass Ravenna above the ATrims and a Windlass English great sword above the Albions.
2004 was the beginning of a new Golden Age of the ancient sword. That date seems a slam at some of the ground breakers who started up the retail marketing of reproductions to the general population. Not so. There was a maturation process where craftsman and scholars had to revive the technology to produce weapons historically valid, opening up a market to enthusiasts that was once the privilege of scholars and museums.
Gus Trim was an idol when I found my way to SBG. Known for a fine blade. His early hilts were at best functional. By 2008 the market demanded that he match competitors. The end result has been spectacular.
1. The original Christian Fletcher/ATrim Austrian War Sword. A sleeper. Not many made in this form. The XIIa.4 has since been a best seller. 2. Sometimes referred to as "moonbrand". 4 fullered sidearm. 3. My first type IX. The revelation of the wonderful hex bladed sword. 4. XIa monster the equal of the Albion baron. A John Marino handoff. 5. Type XVIa a torpedo like design. Another great sword. 6. Recent vintage XVIIIa two hander. another classic Atrim with a sharp deliniation from midshaft to foible. Superb balance. 7-8 The short-lived Evolution series, with blued furniture and red leathered grips. Hi polished blades. The side sword 1557 is sword #1 in the series. I got up earlier that morning than anybody else. What I failed to do was buy a matching XVIIIa to go with it. Somebody else got that honor, starting the medi daisho fad. Several years after the fact I got the XVIIIa from John Marino, again. 9. An older model ATrim. The square grip and bottle cap pommel of another period. The blade type is androgenus. Handles great of course. 10. This is one of the few Trim blades to be found on a Sonny Suttles VA signature sword. A limited edition, and my only ATrim with a scabbard. (LOL) There is one more ATrim.
Albion swords was the merger of the entrepreneurial smarts of the Waddell's with the contracted services of Peter Johnson of Sweden: a superstar in the science and history of medieval sword craft. Laughingly,the Lady Vivamus was my first Albion. A type XVII came along with it. The XVII won my heart. The Vivamus owns my ass.
1. The Principe. Type XVIII renaissance monster. excellent handling beast. 2. Arms and Armor Reichschwert. Type XI horse longsword. 3. Albion type XV. Said I didn't like it. Finally held one, and felt stupid. 4. Albion XVIa. Prefer my ATrim. 5. Albion type XVII Landgraf. Lovely, and a nasty b**** in the bargain. 6. Type XVIIIa Earl. Hollow ground beauty. Always wanted. Doesn't disappoint. 7. Gallowglass. Type XIXa. Wasn't interested in the furniture, but desperately wanted the blade. Only 100 made. This hit the secondary market and I grabbed it first. 8. A ATrim complex hilted XVIII. Early work. (The bottle cap pommel tell.) 9. That is my J Curry wtfo sword. It doesn't belong there. I need to reshoot the pic. 10. Tinker Pearce/Hanwei Great Sword of War. Great starter longsword, underpriced for what you get.
3. 16th-18th Century
The (buff leather) sueded jerkin and long coat were a signature style for light cavalry all over Europe, throughout the 17th Century. Getting belts and gloves in buff is tough today. There are some English specialists who do such work, at a premium. This model wasn't on my list of wants. Found Medieval Collectibles in Australia. Damn if they didn't have a base kit for it. The long boots come from a NW dealer in cheap Chinese pig skin reenactor boots. The sword is a Hanwei antiqued mortuary. The pistol is from Spain.
Kit of King Pedro II of Portugal. From Metropolitan Museum NYC.
Daveydoo pimped out for the Ren Fair.
Discretion and the gaining of 20 lbs forced me to give way my princelies to young charming.
Many new faces in this set in two years.
1. Windlass Henry VIII cut and thrust. Rehilted Townton. 2. Windlass Saxon hilted side sword. Original in the French Army Museum, Paris. 3. Windless Munich Town Guards cut and thrust. Comes in a set with Main Gauche, which I do have. 4. Windlass English Cut and Thrust sword. 5. Windlass Schiavona Broadsword. 6. Windlass Double Ringed Broad Sword. 7. Windlass Saxon hilted back sword. 8. Windlass blackened Saxon hilted side sword with Sonny Suttles grip and scabbard. I loved the handling of this small sword so much, I boxed it with my 7 ring rapier and had Sunny do it up. Brilliant! 9. Cold Steel transitional rapier. Short blade and no ricasso above the quillons. 10. A&A Military Rapier. A return to a type XV styled sword.
17th to 18th Century swords. 17th Cent saw the eventual departure of the complex hilts everywhere except Spain, where it was the second religion. 18th Cent saw the proliferation of the saber all over Europe and the introduction of the small sword/courtsword; a weapon that changed sword fighting technique forever.
1. Hanwei Cromwell Sword. 2. German Haudegen. A mod of the Walloon with a slight, but full, basket and in this case a 36 inch long, elliptical blade. Suprisingly well balanced and quick, bespeaking it's great popularity. The cavalry Haudegen became the first registered, standard weapon of the French Army, in 1680. 3. Windlass Saxon hilted cut and thrust sword. Early 16th Cent German model. 4. Cold Steel Mortuary Sword 2016. large hilt and light bladed. Ahistoric, but 21st century comfortable. 5. Windlass Egilton basket hilted backsword. VG+. 6. Cold Steel Polish Sabla. Big sabre. Too heavy for a side sword. War sword for a stout horseman. G. 7. Windlass German Dragoon. Simple primative design. Effective weapon. G. 8. Spainish 1760 Dragoon. Classic Bilbo. Long military service, and also worn by private gentry. 9. Spanish 1796 Dragoon. larger than the 1760. Sword had a short service history due to Napoleons invasion and the fashion changes in arms. 10. 1788 German saber. Widely accepted prototype for western cavalry sabers in the Napoleonic period. British unjustly besmirched it's performance in the rush to reform their cavalry. Lot of these around the antique world still. VG.
Spanish 1796 Dragoon
Spanish 1760 Dragoon
Imperial Kurassiers of 30 Years War. Pistols in bucket holsters draped over the pommel. 3/4 armor with buff coates and bucket boots.
4. Rapiers
There are 10 rapiers visible in display, with daggers; however there is an 11th. An A&A Musketeer is hiding in the left stack.
Top to Bottom: 1. A&A Saxon Elector's Guards Rapier/Broad Sword w/MG and scabbards. 2. Windlass Christus Imperat English Rapier w/WIndlass Diavolo MG. 3. A&A Spanish Bell Guard Rapier w/ Windlass Munich MG. 4. A&A 7 ring Rapier w/ DelTin German sail guard MG.
Two seperate buys of swept hilt Rapiers. 1.Windlass in brass. Older model. Most of the brass weapons are no longer in the catalog. 2. The second Rapier is a mystery. Sold to me as an A&A model, but the blade is short. The scabbard smacks of old A&A.
Sex shot. The scabbards are Suttles for the sword and KoA for the MG. The baldric is from Ravenswood. Gloves are occasionally sold by Windlass.
Fearsome face courtesy of the removal of 14 teeth and the wearing of only the lower partial.
Perfect fit.
1. Cervenka Cavalryman's set. Wonderful! A favorite. 2. Windlass cup hilt Rapier. w/ Crocadile Dundee Main Gauche. Lots of boiler plate here. The nickle plate and wire adds a lot of weight. The blade is very large and stiff. 3. Windlass Pappenheim Rapier. Popular style, but hard to find repros. Dagger match is a Cold Steel small sword dagger. 4. Darkwood Pappenheim Rapier. My first Ravenswood was their monster clamshell/3 ring rapier that I did up in wire and largest blade. Was a tank. Year later, and a lot wiser, I went back and ordered the Pappenheim specked out to lose weight and gain balance. The result is a 2.4 lb Rapier that handles like a fencing epee. One of the last 20 swords I part with.
5. Small Sword, Court Sword, Spadroon
Windlass with a copy of Angelo's English translation of the French Small sword method.
Cold Steel, Windlass and Weapons Edge swords.
Angelo himself. The 1st edition had copies made up for royal patrons with the illustrations hand colored. Most of these were later disarticulated and the colored illustrations sell handsomely as antiques.
Angelo's sons and students modelled for the illustrations in the book.
6. 2100 years of Helmets
1. Corinthian Iron helm. 2. Corinthian a la Sparta. 3&4. Thracian infantry helm and Boeotian Cavalry helm representative of Alexandrine military. 5. Roman officer helm. 6. Republican Montefortino A infantry helm. All by Deepeeka.
After the Montefortino A: 1. Gallic G Roman Centurion display. 2. Imperial Roman Cav helm. 3. Berkasovo Germano-Byzantine warlords helm. (All Deepeeka) 4. Valsgarde Viking. 5. Coppergate Viking. 6. Phyrgian long nasal helm. (GDFBs) 7. Flat top early great helm. (Windlass)
(L to R) (GDFB) 1. Pig faced helm. 2. Sugar loaf helm. 3. German Salet and bevor. 4. Burgundian champfered pot with bevor. 5. 16th Cent Morion. (Deepeeka) 6. Burgonet with falling buffe. ( Amouronline. CZ ) 7. Simple lobster pot. 8. Imperial Austrian Zischagge.
7. Napoleonics
How can anybody come into my sphere and ask me what is most dear to me of my collectibles? Duuh!
The classic military artwork is mostly from Allen Cranston Arts UK. Retails tons of the stuff. Allpost in the US and in the UK has a lot of historical prints also. His framing isn't too costly, but remember you have to ship it internationally. My local awards and framing shop can do large art frames for 160.00 a piece. Can't beat that, unless you do it yourself.
The Cuirassier kit is bits and pieces. The helmet was from Empire Costume The helm core was original from a theater. They rebuilt the rest with pieces from the shop. The cuirass is from Deepeeka. It is not French period. Sort of a mid 19th Cent Dutch. There are a handful of interfaces for buying made to order repros. They are expensive. Empire costume occasionally finds stuff. This past Christmas they came up with an exchanged display helmet and cuirass that they wanted 1000.00usd for the helmet and 750.00 for the cuirass. I didn't have any reserves left, and the cuirass vanished in 2 days.
My historical interests could be satisfied with the collection of repros. But I fenced saber for 17 years. Picked up one antique Cuirassier pallasche and said Oh f*** no!!! The repro was totally out of balance and useless as a point weapon. The real sword was a 3 lbs surgical instrument requiring minimal effort for parry and thrust. I still get hi end repros to take the place of 4 figured historic pieces, but 85% of my 19th Cent collection is original sabers and swords.
1. WEI Heavy Cav Off Garde de Bataille pallasche 1804-1810. 2. Imperial Garde HC Enl Sabre. 3. Empire Cos. Imp Gd Off Chasseur a Cheval sabre. 4. 1804 Imp Gd LC Sabre. 5. WEI Imp Gde Arty Trains Off Sabre. 6. Empire Cos Imp Gd Foot Grenadiers Off Sabre. 7. Empire Cos. Imp Gd Mamaluk shamshir. 8. Empire Cos. Imp Gds enl foot marines cutlass.
1. WEI Imp Gds HC enl sabre. 2.WEI Imp Gds enl 1804 LC sabre. 3. Unknown repro M1804 enl LC sabre. 4. WEI Garde du Corps off 1814 for Louis XVIII. 5. WEI British Household Cav Dress 1814 pallasche. 6. Windlass Shamshir. 7. Cold Steel Shamshir (Windlass bladed).
1. Fr HC Officer Garde de Bataille1804-1810. 2. Fr Cuirassier pallasche. Manuf March 1815. Probable Waterloo capture. Lousy refurb job early 20th Cent. 3. Empire Costume Carbinier pallasche 1804-1810.
4. Fr AN IX LC Cav Officer sabre. 5. Fr LC XI enl LC Sabre. 6. Fr 1791 Hussar Officer Sabre. 7. Empire Cos. Fr staff off sabre. 8. Dutch 1814/1830 enl cav/trains saber (1814 cav, refit in 1830 for trains troops.)
1. Cold Steel Br 1796LC Saber. Bought by SBG member Liljap who had A&A reprofile the blade correctly. 2&3 US Militia British Manuf 1796 Off and Enilisted LC Sabers. 4. WEI Br Spadroon Inf Off. 5. USI Br 1796 Prince of Wales presentation LC Coffin Handle Saber. 6. WEI Br 1796 HC Sword. Blade has original hatchet face, however it is 2 inches too short. Shortened blade was result of reprofiling of point to spear shape.
(l to r) 1. Fr Off of the Mounted Grenadiers of the Imp Gds. 2. Empresses Dragoons of the Imp Gds. 3. Ist Cav Lancers of the Imp Gds (Polish). 4. Fr Chasseur a Cheval of the Imp Gds ( The Emperor's Children). 5.Carbiniers 1810 armored helm. 8. "Les Grognards" (grumblers) Imp Gds 1st Regt Foot Grenadiers.
Imp Gd mounted Grenadier.
Imp Gd Empresses Dragoon
Imp Gd Officer of the Chasseur a Cheval
1810 Armored Carbinier. The term Carbinier predates the acceptance of the Dutch term Dragoon. The Carbiniers convinced the revolutionary tribunals that they were loyal, thus the oldest regiments of the cavalry survived to the 1st Empire. Their original attire was a red on blue Mounted Grenadier uniform, but their mauling at Wagram convinced Napoleon they should be armored. There was some envy in their ranks because Napoleon had not considered them for the Imp Gd. Compensating Napoleon had named them the 1st Bde of the 1st Div of the Heavy Cav.
8. 1820-1918
Miscellaneous
The center rack represents swords I fancy as unique in style and or performance. (T to B) 1. Lady Vivamus is the queen of style. Performance wise it is a fat lady. 2-5. Swiss 1876-96 sabers. Beautiful cavalry swords. The style is Austrian, but the quality goes to Swiss design. 6-8 Italian Dragoon 1831-1909 Original design was a stodgie Napoleonic design with many blade types tried before they settled on the English 1821 blade. The 1860 and 1872 are classics. 9. Dutch 1895 Cav Off Saber. Great Design. Useless dress saber blade. The hilt looks French 1880, but I discovered some years back that that hilt design was first used, by KIRSCHBAUM, in 1843! Nobody picked up on it at the time, and it got resurrected by the French. 10. The 1898 Argentine enlisted Grenadieros. There are no German 89 pipe backs, that I've held, that I've any use for. The Grenadeiros intrigued me because the blade had a saber curve and is 34 inches long. When it arrived I was stunned. One of the best damned sabers I have the privilege to own. If you find one with it's markings intact, don't be stupid. Grab it.
Albion Swords, Lady Vivamus Saber with Sunny Suttles Scabbard and Ravenswood baldric.
Swiss M1876 and reduced M1896 enl cav sabers.
( T to B ) 1. M1831 Italian Dragoon. 2. M1860 Italian Dragoon. 3. M1872 Italian Dragoon.
France
Examples of the famous HC pallasche/saber of the line. The original Dragoon type 1 is missing. The blade was a traditional hollow ground backsword blade of the mid 18th Cent. It was replaced in 1802 with the double fullered, hatchet faced type 2. By 1815 the hatchet face was cast in a refined spear point. The royal 1816 type 3 had a "dished" guard plate and a more refined and longer blade. In 1822 the Fr war department attempted to replace the Cuirassier pallasche with the HC saber of the Imperial guard; a 37.5x1.15 in Montmorency bladed saber. The excellent saber was rejected by the heavies. In 1854 Napoleon III provided a new pallasche in Carbinier and Dragoon styles. Guards and Cuirassier regiments used the grand Carbinier with the meter long blade. Dragoons used a shorter 38 inch blade. By 1882 HC blades were retained, but downsized to 36 in blades and LC hilts.
Top to bottom: 1&2 M1816 LC Officer and enld sabers. 3&4 Officer M1822 Cav du Ligne sabers. 5. M1822 Cav du Ligne enld saber. 6&7 M1822 Officer LC sabers, 8&9 M1822 Enld LC Sabers. 10&11 M1829 Artillery Off and Enld sabers.
British
Back left center horizontal rack; top to bottom: 1&2. P1821 officer and enl cav sabers. 3. P1822/45 HC Off saber this for the 7th Dragoons. 4. P1827 Inf Off Saber. 10th Rifles, Wellington's Own. 5. Windlass P1831 Highland Inf Off basket hilt sword. 6. P1845 Engr Officers Saber. 7. P1853 Cav enl all service saber. 8. P1864 Cav enl all service saber. 9.WEI P1875 Guards Parade Dress Sword. 10. P1821/95 Cav Off Saber. My favorite Br Off Saber! 11. WEI P1897 Inf Off sword.
Middle right, vertical rack; left to right: 1. P1912 Cav Off Sword. 2. P1908 Cav Off Sword. 3. 1885 Eygptian Cav Saber. Style is likened to the French 1822, but this is smaller and made by Wilkinson. 4. Cold Steel India Pattern IP1908 end cav sword.
(T to B ) 1. P1821 enlisted cav saber LC. 2. P1853 enlisted cav saber HC/LC. 3. P1864 enl cav saber HC/LC.
German
Left horizontal rack, top to bottom: 1.WEI 1750 Presentation sabre for Feld Marshall August Hadik. 2. 1846 Pallasch of Hungarian General, Josef Bem who joined the Vienna revolt in '48. 3. 1861 Inf Off saber. 4. M1858 HC enl saber. 3d and last attempt at fixing issues with the M1845. HC sabers were abandoned in favor of a general service standard for heavy and light regiments. 5&6 M1859 general cav svc off and enl sabers. 7&8 M1904 Cav Off and enl sabers. Ist Austrian pipe back cav service saber.
1895 Imperial German lance. Kaiser Whilhem II ordered that the lance would be the primary weapon of ALL German cavalry. This last lance is a 10 ft long tubular steel shaft, with lance head and butt cap pressed into position. Post 1918 Germany sold many of these to Argentina. Most surviving examples come from that sale.
1. Prussian M1852 LC enl cav saber. 2. Prussian M1852/79 LC enl cav saber. (Golden shagreen grip suggests elite 1st Uhlan regiment.) 3. 1875 Prussian HC pallasche (veterans retirement presentation piece) 4. M1845 HC Pallasch. Modelled after the French ANXII, but the grip has pistol turn and the guard plate is dished. Blade has the hatchet face of the ANXII. 5. 1743 Prussian Guards pallasche. 6. Prussian 1819 Pallasche. Purchased Russian M1810 after the French style. 7. 1789 Danish backsword cav pallasche. 18th Cent style used by a number of Baltic states, including Russian Imp Guard HC. The 1895 is a 10 ft long, tubular steel lance with lance head and butt cap pressed into place. Post 1918, most of these were sold to the Argentine Army. Most surviving examples are from Argentina.
Scandinavian
Swedish swords below in Right to left order: 1. M1853 Cav enl dragoon. 2. M1864 Cav enl dragoon. 3. M1869 Cav enl dragoon. 4. M1893 Cav Off Saber. 5. M1893 Cav enl pallasche. 6 M18?? Inf Off pipeback. 7. M1893 Inf Off pipeback.
Spain
Spanish late period sword history is one of stubborn recidivism in style and generally lesser quality weapons for enlisted class and free interpretation for officers. The restoration of the Burbon monarchy in 1814 saw a return of french styled swords. The establishment of Napoleon III in France saw the Spanish turning to German and British inspiration for their swords.
Right to left above: 1. The 1821 styled saber was provided for all grades. Blade was only 34 inches. Made in Toledo Arsenal and Madrid the Portuguese continued using these into the 1960s. 2&3 The 1860 pattern dragoon is my favorite late era Spanish cav saber. Obviously German in design. It handles a bit stiff but is an excellent cutter. 4. The 1880 is lighter with a weaker blade. The grip is longer, enhancing handling, but qualitatively it is poorer performing than the 1860. 5. The 1907 Puerto Segura is a rebound from the dreadful 1896. The blade is similar to the french '82.
United States
Top horizontal rack (top to bottom): 1. US Ames M1833 Dragoon Enl Saber. 2. US M1840 Enl Cav Saber. 3. Windlass US M1850 Field and staff Inf Off Saber. 4. Windlass 1860 LC Off Saber. 5. US Ames 1860 LC enl saber. 6. US SA M1906/1860 enl cav saber. 7. US Ames M1906E Cav saber. 8. US M1902 All branch Army off saber.
Bottom vertical rack (left to right). 1. Windlass M1906/1860 LC enl saber. 2. PDL Brass hilt M1840 Cav Saber. 3. PDL Iron hilt M1840 Cav saber. 4. Kirschbaum M1840 enl saber. 5. US Ames M1840 enl Cav Saber (1850) 6. SA M1913 Cav Saber "dress parade", 1917 (#31938) 7. SA M1913 Cav Saber 1913 (#836). 8. SA M1913 Cav Saber 1913 (#3389). 9. LF&C M1913 Cav Saber, 1918.
10. Odds and ends:
Found a North Carolina flag company on ebay. Asked them to make me a regimental flag, with campaign honors, for the 7th RI Infantry Regiment. My maternal relatives populated the RI infantry regiments assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Their wartime survival rate astounds me; although several were wounded and had shortened and miserable lives post war. The 7th RI didn't actually carry the standard regimental banner. They were rushed to war in the autumn 1862, second great mobilization, without any flags. At each stop heading for Washington, officers desperately sought out a national flag, at least. They finally secured a half sized national flag, which they carried into battle at Fredericksburg. The regiment took 40% casualties in their first battle. The survivors voted that the little national would remain their regimental symbol. It was returned to the RI armory in 1865. I chose the simple route of providing a formal regimental colors with all battle honors ascribed on it. Not disappointed. One of these April 2d mornings, I'm going to get up early and stand in front of Fort Sedgwick, facing Fort Mahone; and wait to hear the bugles sound the advance and the murmur of distance guns...
Probably my 7th birthday. Lil brother's head appropriately dangling on the end of my chalky, plastic blade.
Sheer dumb luck I saw a notice for the fencing team in the dorm lounge. Big, tall fencers, usually get handed an Epee. More luck, Harry Boutsikaris, thought his big guys should have sabers. Tried to keep it up after college. Army made that tough to do, as not all assignments put you close to fencing friendly centers. I gave it up, just before title 8 NCAA rules destroyed the sport, as colleges abandoned minor sports to redistribute funds equitable to both sexes.
Robert E Lee was supposed to have looked down on the carnage of Fredericksburg and pontificated, "It is good that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." Sounds like Shakespeare. People say poo like that when they are beating the crap out of the other side.
I'm not a martial arrtist. Nor am I a skilled artisan of sword crafting. I'm a scholar of history and a soldier. I know enough about the use of swords to feel comfortable with the idea of defending myself with one; impracticable as that is in a modern context.
Swords are an art form, and an evocation of the time and place they represent in our human cultural and political histroy. Thus, you get my tawdry presentations. It's as close as I can get you, to the thrill of stumbling around my space, pawing all this brilliant "stuff". ;)
Don't know if or when I might update this. For now, "that'll do pig..."
INTRODUCTION:
It's almost two years since I last did a complete update. The old file was started in 2010. After several server moves and even more hard crashes, the old file was getting very tough to manage, and wouldn't give title changes any more. ( We won't even mention the last big butt crash...er, I did.)
1. 200BC - 1000AD
Ancients is a small portion of my overall collection. 1200 years summarized with 10 swords.
The swords weren't the driving motivation for the display. Stationed in Germany in the 1970s I visited a lot of Roman sites. Cleves in the lower Rhine was a legion site and Capitol of Charlemagne later. Remember a nice old Roman museum there. First thing to greet you in the alcove was a full dress imperial legionaire. The memory stuck. It was something I wanted to do soon as I started my disease. Most of the items are Deepeeka. A few acessories from Windlass finished the piece.
(top to bottom) 1. Old Phillipine VA gladius. The hilt is non reg, but an excellent weapon. 2. Movie tribune gladius from "The Eagle". Legion Officers were well paid and their kits were more elaborate. 3. New VA Hispaniensis. Too big. 4. and 5. Deepeeka spatha. Accurate but clumsy. 6. Windlass Migration Period Sword. Dark Ages. Sweet sword. 7. The Ulfbert. Perennial. 8. Windlass Suontaka. Really not a bad piece. 9. Deepeeka Aalen Spatha ( There is a 10th Sword. The Legionaire carries an old Mainz beater.
One of the newer Deepeeka entries: the Aalen Germany spatha. The helmet for an Imperial cavalryman of the 3d Century AD. Both the Helmet and the spatha would become common wear for both horse and foot soldiers in the late empire.
Roman Republic: Officer helmet on the left and a Gallic converted Montefortino A foot helmet. Used to buy a lot of Deepeekas from Ming Loo in California; when nobody else had them in stock. They went under in 2016. KoA is now the US Deepeeka distributor.
2. Medieval 1050-1500
Tucked away in the corner, between my premium swords, are ten classics from the economy class retailers.
1. Hanwei Edward III sword. 2. Windlass Arbedo. 3. Windlass Classic Medi old. 4. Windlass Classic Medi new. 5. Hanwei Albrecht II type XVIII. 6. Windlass classic German type XVIII. 7. Windlass Flaired Forte Sword. 8. Windlass Milanese Sword 9. Windlass Sword of Roven. 10. Windlass 15th Cent ring hilt. Addition to the racks there are two overhead Great Swords: A Windlass Ravenna above the ATrims and a Windlass English great sword above the Albions.
2004 was the beginning of a new Golden Age of the ancient sword. That date seems a slam at some of the ground breakers who started up the retail marketing of reproductions to the general population. Not so. There was a maturation process where craftsman and scholars had to revive the technology to produce weapons historically valid, opening up a market to enthusiasts that was once the privilege of scholars and museums.
Gus Trim was an idol when I found my way to SBG. Known for a fine blade. His early hilts were at best functional. By 2008 the market demanded that he match competitors. The end result has been spectacular.
1. The original Christian Fletcher/ATrim Austrian War Sword. A sleeper. Not many made in this form. The XIIa.4 has since been a best seller. 2. Sometimes referred to as "moonbrand". 4 fullered sidearm. 3. My first type IX. The revelation of the wonderful hex bladed sword. 4. XIa monster the equal of the Albion baron. A John Marino handoff. 5. Type XVIa a torpedo like design. Another great sword. 6. Recent vintage XVIIIa two hander. another classic Atrim with a sharp deliniation from midshaft to foible. Superb balance. 7-8 The short-lived Evolution series, with blued furniture and red leathered grips. Hi polished blades. The side sword 1557 is sword #1 in the series. I got up earlier that morning than anybody else. What I failed to do was buy a matching XVIIIa to go with it. Somebody else got that honor, starting the medi daisho fad. Several years after the fact I got the XVIIIa from John Marino, again. 9. An older model ATrim. The square grip and bottle cap pommel of another period. The blade type is androgenus. Handles great of course. 10. This is one of the few Trim blades to be found on a Sonny Suttles VA signature sword. A limited edition, and my only ATrim with a scabbard. (LOL) There is one more ATrim.
Albion swords was the merger of the entrepreneurial smarts of the Waddell's with the contracted services of Peter Johnson of Sweden: a superstar in the science and history of medieval sword craft. Laughingly,the Lady Vivamus was my first Albion. A type XVII came along with it. The XVII won my heart. The Vivamus owns my ass.
1. The Principe. Type XVIII renaissance monster. excellent handling beast. 2. Arms and Armor Reichschwert. Type XI horse longsword. 3. Albion type XV. Said I didn't like it. Finally held one, and felt stupid. 4. Albion XVIa. Prefer my ATrim. 5. Albion type XVII Landgraf. Lovely, and a nasty b**** in the bargain. 6. Type XVIIIa Earl. Hollow ground beauty. Always wanted. Doesn't disappoint. 7. Gallowglass. Type XIXa. Wasn't interested in the furniture, but desperately wanted the blade. Only 100 made. This hit the secondary market and I grabbed it first. 8. A ATrim complex hilted XVIII. Early work. (The bottle cap pommel tell.) 9. That is my J Curry wtfo sword. It doesn't belong there. I need to reshoot the pic. 10. Tinker Pearce/Hanwei Great Sword of War. Great starter longsword, underpriced for what you get.
3. 16th-18th Century
The (buff leather) sueded jerkin and long coat were a signature style for light cavalry all over Europe, throughout the 17th Century. Getting belts and gloves in buff is tough today. There are some English specialists who do such work, at a premium. This model wasn't on my list of wants. Found Medieval Collectibles in Australia. Damn if they didn't have a base kit for it. The long boots come from a NW dealer in cheap Chinese pig skin reenactor boots. The sword is a Hanwei antiqued mortuary. The pistol is from Spain.
Kit of King Pedro II of Portugal. From Metropolitan Museum NYC.
Daveydoo pimped out for the Ren Fair.
Discretion and the gaining of 20 lbs forced me to give way my princelies to young charming.
Many new faces in this set in two years.
1. Windlass Henry VIII cut and thrust. Rehilted Townton. 2. Windlass Saxon hilted side sword. Original in the French Army Museum, Paris. 3. Windless Munich Town Guards cut and thrust. Comes in a set with Main Gauche, which I do have. 4. Windlass English Cut and Thrust sword. 5. Windlass Schiavona Broadsword. 6. Windlass Double Ringed Broad Sword. 7. Windlass Saxon hilted back sword. 8. Windlass blackened Saxon hilted side sword with Sonny Suttles grip and scabbard. I loved the handling of this small sword so much, I boxed it with my 7 ring rapier and had Sunny do it up. Brilliant! 9. Cold Steel transitional rapier. Short blade and no ricasso above the quillons. 10. A&A Military Rapier. A return to a type XV styled sword.
17th to 18th Century swords. 17th Cent saw the eventual departure of the complex hilts everywhere except Spain, where it was the second religion. 18th Cent saw the proliferation of the saber all over Europe and the introduction of the small sword/courtsword; a weapon that changed sword fighting technique forever.
1. Hanwei Cromwell Sword. 2. German Haudegen. A mod of the Walloon with a slight, but full, basket and in this case a 36 inch long, elliptical blade. Suprisingly well balanced and quick, bespeaking it's great popularity. The cavalry Haudegen became the first registered, standard weapon of the French Army, in 1680. 3. Windlass Saxon hilted cut and thrust sword. Early 16th Cent German model. 4. Cold Steel Mortuary Sword 2016. large hilt and light bladed. Ahistoric, but 21st century comfortable. 5. Windlass Egilton basket hilted backsword. VG+. 6. Cold Steel Polish Sabla. Big sabre. Too heavy for a side sword. War sword for a stout horseman. G. 7. Windlass German Dragoon. Simple primative design. Effective weapon. G. 8. Spainish 1760 Dragoon. Classic Bilbo. Long military service, and also worn by private gentry. 9. Spanish 1796 Dragoon. larger than the 1760. Sword had a short service history due to Napoleons invasion and the fashion changes in arms. 10. 1788 German saber. Widely accepted prototype for western cavalry sabers in the Napoleonic period. British unjustly besmirched it's performance in the rush to reform their cavalry. Lot of these around the antique world still. VG.
Spanish 1796 Dragoon
Spanish 1760 Dragoon
Imperial Kurassiers of 30 Years War. Pistols in bucket holsters draped over the pommel. 3/4 armor with buff coates and bucket boots.
4. Rapiers
There are 10 rapiers visible in display, with daggers; however there is an 11th. An A&A Musketeer is hiding in the left stack.
Top to Bottom: 1. A&A Saxon Elector's Guards Rapier/Broad Sword w/MG and scabbards. 2. Windlass Christus Imperat English Rapier w/WIndlass Diavolo MG. 3. A&A Spanish Bell Guard Rapier w/ Windlass Munich MG. 4. A&A 7 ring Rapier w/ DelTin German sail guard MG.
Two seperate buys of swept hilt Rapiers. 1.Windlass in brass. Older model. Most of the brass weapons are no longer in the catalog. 2. The second Rapier is a mystery. Sold to me as an A&A model, but the blade is short. The scabbard smacks of old A&A.
Sex shot. The scabbards are Suttles for the sword and KoA for the MG. The baldric is from Ravenswood. Gloves are occasionally sold by Windlass.
Fearsome face courtesy of the removal of 14 teeth and the wearing of only the lower partial.
Perfect fit.
1. Cervenka Cavalryman's set. Wonderful! A favorite. 2. Windlass cup hilt Rapier. w/ Crocadile Dundee Main Gauche. Lots of boiler plate here. The nickle plate and wire adds a lot of weight. The blade is very large and stiff. 3. Windlass Pappenheim Rapier. Popular style, but hard to find repros. Dagger match is a Cold Steel small sword dagger. 4. Darkwood Pappenheim Rapier. My first Ravenswood was their monster clamshell/3 ring rapier that I did up in wire and largest blade. Was a tank. Year later, and a lot wiser, I went back and ordered the Pappenheim specked out to lose weight and gain balance. The result is a 2.4 lb Rapier that handles like a fencing epee. One of the last 20 swords I part with.
5. Small Sword, Court Sword, Spadroon
Windlass with a copy of Angelo's English translation of the French Small sword method.
Cold Steel, Windlass and Weapons Edge swords.
Angelo himself. The 1st edition had copies made up for royal patrons with the illustrations hand colored. Most of these were later disarticulated and the colored illustrations sell handsomely as antiques.
Angelo's sons and students modelled for the illustrations in the book.
6. 2100 years of Helmets
1. Corinthian Iron helm. 2. Corinthian a la Sparta. 3&4. Thracian infantry helm and Boeotian Cavalry helm representative of Alexandrine military. 5. Roman officer helm. 6. Republican Montefortino A infantry helm. All by Deepeeka.
After the Montefortino A: 1. Gallic G Roman Centurion display. 2. Imperial Roman Cav helm. 3. Berkasovo Germano-Byzantine warlords helm. (All Deepeeka) 4. Valsgarde Viking. 5. Coppergate Viking. 6. Phyrgian long nasal helm. (GDFBs) 7. Flat top early great helm. (Windlass)
(L to R) (GDFB) 1. Pig faced helm. 2. Sugar loaf helm. 3. German Salet and bevor. 4. Burgundian champfered pot with bevor. 5. 16th Cent Morion. (Deepeeka) 6. Burgonet with falling buffe. ( Amouronline. CZ ) 7. Simple lobster pot. 8. Imperial Austrian Zischagge.
7. Napoleonics
How can anybody come into my sphere and ask me what is most dear to me of my collectibles? Duuh!
The classic military artwork is mostly from Allen Cranston Arts UK. Retails tons of the stuff. Allpost in the US and in the UK has a lot of historical prints also. His framing isn't too costly, but remember you have to ship it internationally. My local awards and framing shop can do large art frames for 160.00 a piece. Can't beat that, unless you do it yourself.
The Cuirassier kit is bits and pieces. The helmet was from Empire Costume The helm core was original from a theater. They rebuilt the rest with pieces from the shop. The cuirass is from Deepeeka. It is not French period. Sort of a mid 19th Cent Dutch. There are a handful of interfaces for buying made to order repros. They are expensive. Empire costume occasionally finds stuff. This past Christmas they came up with an exchanged display helmet and cuirass that they wanted 1000.00usd for the helmet and 750.00 for the cuirass. I didn't have any reserves left, and the cuirass vanished in 2 days.
My historical interests could be satisfied with the collection of repros. But I fenced saber for 17 years. Picked up one antique Cuirassier pallasche and said Oh f*** no!!! The repro was totally out of balance and useless as a point weapon. The real sword was a 3 lbs surgical instrument requiring minimal effort for parry and thrust. I still get hi end repros to take the place of 4 figured historic pieces, but 85% of my 19th Cent collection is original sabers and swords.
1. WEI Heavy Cav Off Garde de Bataille pallasche 1804-1810. 2. Imperial Garde HC Enl Sabre. 3. Empire Cos. Imp Gd Off Chasseur a Cheval sabre. 4. 1804 Imp Gd LC Sabre. 5. WEI Imp Gde Arty Trains Off Sabre. 6. Empire Cos Imp Gd Foot Grenadiers Off Sabre. 7. Empire Cos. Imp Gd Mamaluk shamshir. 8. Empire Cos. Imp Gds enl foot marines cutlass.
1. WEI Imp Gds HC enl sabre. 2.WEI Imp Gds enl 1804 LC sabre. 3. Unknown repro M1804 enl LC sabre. 4. WEI Garde du Corps off 1814 for Louis XVIII. 5. WEI British Household Cav Dress 1814 pallasche. 6. Windlass Shamshir. 7. Cold Steel Shamshir (Windlass bladed).
1. Fr HC Officer Garde de Bataille1804-1810. 2. Fr Cuirassier pallasche. Manuf March 1815. Probable Waterloo capture. Lousy refurb job early 20th Cent. 3. Empire Costume Carbinier pallasche 1804-1810.
4. Fr AN IX LC Cav Officer sabre. 5. Fr LC XI enl LC Sabre. 6. Fr 1791 Hussar Officer Sabre. 7. Empire Cos. Fr staff off sabre. 8. Dutch 1814/1830 enl cav/trains saber (1814 cav, refit in 1830 for trains troops.)
1. Cold Steel Br 1796LC Saber. Bought by SBG member Liljap who had A&A reprofile the blade correctly. 2&3 US Militia British Manuf 1796 Off and Enilisted LC Sabers. 4. WEI Br Spadroon Inf Off. 5. USI Br 1796 Prince of Wales presentation LC Coffin Handle Saber. 6. WEI Br 1796 HC Sword. Blade has original hatchet face, however it is 2 inches too short. Shortened blade was result of reprofiling of point to spear shape.
(l to r) 1. Fr Off of the Mounted Grenadiers of the Imp Gds. 2. Empresses Dragoons of the Imp Gds. 3. Ist Cav Lancers of the Imp Gds (Polish). 4. Fr Chasseur a Cheval of the Imp Gds ( The Emperor's Children). 5.Carbiniers 1810 armored helm. 8. "Les Grognards" (grumblers) Imp Gds 1st Regt Foot Grenadiers.
Imp Gd mounted Grenadier.
Imp Gd Empresses Dragoon
Imp Gd Officer of the Chasseur a Cheval
1810 Armored Carbinier. The term Carbinier predates the acceptance of the Dutch term Dragoon. The Carbiniers convinced the revolutionary tribunals that they were loyal, thus the oldest regiments of the cavalry survived to the 1st Empire. Their original attire was a red on blue Mounted Grenadier uniform, but their mauling at Wagram convinced Napoleon they should be armored. There was some envy in their ranks because Napoleon had not considered them for the Imp Gd. Compensating Napoleon had named them the 1st Bde of the 1st Div of the Heavy Cav.
8. 1820-1918
Miscellaneous
The center rack represents swords I fancy as unique in style and or performance. (T to B) 1. Lady Vivamus is the queen of style. Performance wise it is a fat lady. 2-5. Swiss 1876-96 sabers. Beautiful cavalry swords. The style is Austrian, but the quality goes to Swiss design. 6-8 Italian Dragoon 1831-1909 Original design was a stodgie Napoleonic design with many blade types tried before they settled on the English 1821 blade. The 1860 and 1872 are classics. 9. Dutch 1895 Cav Off Saber. Great Design. Useless dress saber blade. The hilt looks French 1880, but I discovered some years back that that hilt design was first used, by KIRSCHBAUM, in 1843! Nobody picked up on it at the time, and it got resurrected by the French. 10. The 1898 Argentine enlisted Grenadieros. There are no German 89 pipe backs, that I've held, that I've any use for. The Grenadeiros intrigued me because the blade had a saber curve and is 34 inches long. When it arrived I was stunned. One of the best damned sabers I have the privilege to own. If you find one with it's markings intact, don't be stupid. Grab it.
Albion Swords, Lady Vivamus Saber with Sunny Suttles Scabbard and Ravenswood baldric.
Swiss M1876 and reduced M1896 enl cav sabers.
( T to B ) 1. M1831 Italian Dragoon. 2. M1860 Italian Dragoon. 3. M1872 Italian Dragoon.
France
Examples of the famous HC pallasche/saber of the line. The original Dragoon type 1 is missing. The blade was a traditional hollow ground backsword blade of the mid 18th Cent. It was replaced in 1802 with the double fullered, hatchet faced type 2. By 1815 the hatchet face was cast in a refined spear point. The royal 1816 type 3 had a "dished" guard plate and a more refined and longer blade. In 1822 the Fr war department attempted to replace the Cuirassier pallasche with the HC saber of the Imperial guard; a 37.5x1.15 in Montmorency bladed saber. The excellent saber was rejected by the heavies. In 1854 Napoleon III provided a new pallasche in Carbinier and Dragoon styles. Guards and Cuirassier regiments used the grand Carbinier with the meter long blade. Dragoons used a shorter 38 inch blade. By 1882 HC blades were retained, but downsized to 36 in blades and LC hilts.
Top to bottom: 1&2 M1816 LC Officer and enld sabers. 3&4 Officer M1822 Cav du Ligne sabers. 5. M1822 Cav du Ligne enld saber. 6&7 M1822 Officer LC sabers, 8&9 M1822 Enld LC Sabers. 10&11 M1829 Artillery Off and Enld sabers.
British
Back left center horizontal rack; top to bottom: 1&2. P1821 officer and enl cav sabers. 3. P1822/45 HC Off saber this for the 7th Dragoons. 4. P1827 Inf Off Saber. 10th Rifles, Wellington's Own. 5. Windlass P1831 Highland Inf Off basket hilt sword. 6. P1845 Engr Officers Saber. 7. P1853 Cav enl all service saber. 8. P1864 Cav enl all service saber. 9.WEI P1875 Guards Parade Dress Sword. 10. P1821/95 Cav Off Saber. My favorite Br Off Saber! 11. WEI P1897 Inf Off sword.
Middle right, vertical rack; left to right: 1. P1912 Cav Off Sword. 2. P1908 Cav Off Sword. 3. 1885 Eygptian Cav Saber. Style is likened to the French 1822, but this is smaller and made by Wilkinson. 4. Cold Steel India Pattern IP1908 end cav sword.
(T to B ) 1. P1821 enlisted cav saber LC. 2. P1853 enlisted cav saber HC/LC. 3. P1864 enl cav saber HC/LC.
German
Left horizontal rack, top to bottom: 1.WEI 1750 Presentation sabre for Feld Marshall August Hadik. 2. 1846 Pallasch of Hungarian General, Josef Bem who joined the Vienna revolt in '48. 3. 1861 Inf Off saber. 4. M1858 HC enl saber. 3d and last attempt at fixing issues with the M1845. HC sabers were abandoned in favor of a general service standard for heavy and light regiments. 5&6 M1859 general cav svc off and enl sabers. 7&8 M1904 Cav Off and enl sabers. Ist Austrian pipe back cav service saber.
1895 Imperial German lance. Kaiser Whilhem II ordered that the lance would be the primary weapon of ALL German cavalry. This last lance is a 10 ft long tubular steel shaft, with lance head and butt cap pressed into position. Post 1918 Germany sold many of these to Argentina. Most surviving examples come from that sale.
1. Prussian M1852 LC enl cav saber. 2. Prussian M1852/79 LC enl cav saber. (Golden shagreen grip suggests elite 1st Uhlan regiment.) 3. 1875 Prussian HC pallasche (veterans retirement presentation piece) 4. M1845 HC Pallasch. Modelled after the French ANXII, but the grip has pistol turn and the guard plate is dished. Blade has the hatchet face of the ANXII. 5. 1743 Prussian Guards pallasche. 6. Prussian 1819 Pallasche. Purchased Russian M1810 after the French style. 7. 1789 Danish backsword cav pallasche. 18th Cent style used by a number of Baltic states, including Russian Imp Guard HC. The 1895 is a 10 ft long, tubular steel lance with lance head and butt cap pressed into place. Post 1918, most of these were sold to the Argentine Army. Most surviving examples are from Argentina.
Scandinavian
Swedish swords below in Right to left order: 1. M1853 Cav enl dragoon. 2. M1864 Cav enl dragoon. 3. M1869 Cav enl dragoon. 4. M1893 Cav Off Saber. 5. M1893 Cav enl pallasche. 6 M18?? Inf Off pipeback. 7. M1893 Inf Off pipeback.
Spain
Spanish late period sword history is one of stubborn recidivism in style and generally lesser quality weapons for enlisted class and free interpretation for officers. The restoration of the Burbon monarchy in 1814 saw a return of french styled swords. The establishment of Napoleon III in France saw the Spanish turning to German and British inspiration for their swords.
Right to left above: 1. The 1821 styled saber was provided for all grades. Blade was only 34 inches. Made in Toledo Arsenal and Madrid the Portuguese continued using these into the 1960s. 2&3 The 1860 pattern dragoon is my favorite late era Spanish cav saber. Obviously German in design. It handles a bit stiff but is an excellent cutter. 4. The 1880 is lighter with a weaker blade. The grip is longer, enhancing handling, but qualitatively it is poorer performing than the 1860. 5. The 1907 Puerto Segura is a rebound from the dreadful 1896. The blade is similar to the french '82.
United States
Top horizontal rack (top to bottom): 1. US Ames M1833 Dragoon Enl Saber. 2. US M1840 Enl Cav Saber. 3. Windlass US M1850 Field and staff Inf Off Saber. 4. Windlass 1860 LC Off Saber. 5. US Ames 1860 LC enl saber. 6. US SA M1906/1860 enl cav saber. 7. US Ames M1906E Cav saber. 8. US M1902 All branch Army off saber.
Bottom vertical rack (left to right). 1. Windlass M1906/1860 LC enl saber. 2. PDL Brass hilt M1840 Cav Saber. 3. PDL Iron hilt M1840 Cav saber. 4. Kirschbaum M1840 enl saber. 5. US Ames M1840 enl Cav Saber (1850) 6. SA M1913 Cav Saber "dress parade", 1917 (#31938) 7. SA M1913 Cav Saber 1913 (#836). 8. SA M1913 Cav Saber 1913 (#3389). 9. LF&C M1913 Cav Saber, 1918.
10. Odds and ends:
Found a North Carolina flag company on ebay. Asked them to make me a regimental flag, with campaign honors, for the 7th RI Infantry Regiment. My maternal relatives populated the RI infantry regiments assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Their wartime survival rate astounds me; although several were wounded and had shortened and miserable lives post war. The 7th RI didn't actually carry the standard regimental banner. They were rushed to war in the autumn 1862, second great mobilization, without any flags. At each stop heading for Washington, officers desperately sought out a national flag, at least. They finally secured a half sized national flag, which they carried into battle at Fredericksburg. The regiment took 40% casualties in their first battle. The survivors voted that the little national would remain their regimental symbol. It was returned to the RI armory in 1865. I chose the simple route of providing a formal regimental colors with all battle honors ascribed on it. Not disappointed. One of these April 2d mornings, I'm going to get up early and stand in front of Fort Sedgwick, facing Fort Mahone; and wait to hear the bugles sound the advance and the murmur of distance guns...
Probably my 7th birthday. Lil brother's head appropriately dangling on the end of my chalky, plastic blade.
Sheer dumb luck I saw a notice for the fencing team in the dorm lounge. Big, tall fencers, usually get handed an Epee. More luck, Harry Boutsikaris, thought his big guys should have sabers. Tried to keep it up after college. Army made that tough to do, as not all assignments put you close to fencing friendly centers. I gave it up, just before title 8 NCAA rules destroyed the sport, as colleges abandoned minor sports to redistribute funds equitable to both sexes.
Robert E Lee was supposed to have looked down on the carnage of Fredericksburg and pontificated, "It is good that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." Sounds like Shakespeare. People say poo like that when they are beating the crap out of the other side.
I'm not a martial arrtist. Nor am I a skilled artisan of sword crafting. I'm a scholar of history and a soldier. I know enough about the use of swords to feel comfortable with the idea of defending myself with one; impracticable as that is in a modern context.
Swords are an art form, and an evocation of the time and place they represent in our human cultural and political histroy. Thus, you get my tawdry presentations. It's as close as I can get you, to the thrill of stumbling around my space, pawing all this brilliant "stuff". ;)
Don't know if or when I might update this. For now, "that'll do pig..."
