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Post by Irrissann on Jun 21, 2017 12:36:38 GMT
Hey everyone, I just made a video on one of the rarest swords I own. I've been doing a video a day this week, covering antique smallswords. Today, I looked at what is undoubtedly the rarest sword I own. This sword has a unique blade, of which there is only one other extant example known. That sword was owned by General George Washington. The blade is extremely broad, and still sharp despite being made ~1730. The design is extremely specialised, making a stiff, light blade with the ability to perform push and draw cuts. This is Washingtons' sword from 1753. It features a very similar blade, which is very slightly more tapered. And this is mine: It's much earlier than the superficially similar Preval blades, and has a few differences in terms of the geometry - it's got a true flat, rather than being hollow ground triangular.
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pgandy
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Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jun 21, 2017 12:44:15 GMT
A thousand thanks for sharing.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Jun 21, 2017 16:21:18 GMT
Really unique blade! Great find and thanks for sharing.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Jun 22, 2017 14:20:43 GMT
Very nice!
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Post by bluetrain on Jun 22, 2017 16:38:12 GMT
I couldn't hear the audio, so you may have answered this question. Is this sword shorter than usual? Or does the wide blade just make it look like that? I have always assumed that all small sword hilts were fancy, as this one is, but it is surprising that the grips on all the sword shown here are plain wood. Also, do you suppose that in the early to mid-18th century when these types of swords were used, that there was a distinct difference recognized between different blades, as in small swords versus colichemarde sword and so on? Or was it only later that things were defined the way we think of them now?
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Post by Irrissann on Jun 22, 2017 17:14:47 GMT
I couldn't hear the audio, so you may have answered this question. Is this sword shorter than usual? Or does the wide blade just make it look like that? I have always assumed that all small sword hilts were fancy, as this one is, but it is surprising that the grips on all the sword shown here are plain wood. Also, do you suppose that in the early to mid-18th century when these types of swords were used, that there was a distinct difference recognized between different blades, as in small swords versus colichemarde sword and so on? Or was it only later that things were defined the way we think of them now? The blade is 73cm, which is about 7cm shorter than the typical smallsword, but still within the average variation you see in smallswords. "surprising that the grips on all the sword shown here are plain wood." The handle on this is actually blued steel, that's been shaped into diamond facets. Colichemarde is a historically used term for those blades, so there was a separation between typical smallswords and those with a widened portion.
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