Universal Sword India Swedish 1685 Cavalry Sword
Jan 28, 2018 2:40:28 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on Jan 28, 2018 2:40:28 GMT
Universal Sword India Swedish 1685 Infantry Sword
( 6 Aug: It has been brought to my attention that the functional discription offered for use of the 1685 is inadequate. I have ordered several books referenced on Deutches Blankwaffen Forum. I won't change any of the presentation until I have a chance to review these. Thanx.)
INTRODUCTION
Some years back, T Gavelin, a Swedish antiques dealer, contracted Universal Swords India to make him a list of exclusive use Swedish military swords from the 17-18th Century. 2017, Gavelin has dropt the reproduction business and USI has now put these swords into general distribution. Per Aarvind Chouhan, KOA has taken delivery on some samples of what will be a larger delivery in the April/May time frame.
BACKGROUND
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_War
If you are not acquainted with 17-18th Century Baltic history, suffice to say that the Baltic bloodbath didn't end with the Vikings. Control of the sea lanes and dynastic land expansion rocked back and forth between the powers of the moment. Survival needed friends. Royal family intermarriages was the best way to achieve that, although it got sticky when your sovereign suddenly becomes the first heir of your greatest enemy and decides to jump ship for the better paying job.
Sweden had ambitions greater than it's resources. That cost Gustavus Augustus his life in the 30 Years War. A new Alexander, the young militant king Charles XII of Sweden, went to war with a coalition of states much too deep for him to handle. The Swedes had some success in the early stages of the War but they eventually had to face the emerging goliath of a Russia rushing to modernity under the leadership of Czar Peter I (The Great). Swedish ambition was destroyed at Poltava (1709), only half way through the war. It would drag on 11 more years before Sweden paid large to stop the bleeding.
CHARACTERISTICS
( Chart references to this as a cavalry sword are incorrect. This is an infantry side arm.
The hilt is large and there is room for a big hand. The sword has design cues showing itself to be a descendent of the Walloon. The grip is brass wired and rounded. With the thumb ring it appears to demand a closed fisted grip.
The single quillon is decorative, as you can't thumb what's straight up. Sword appears peened and filed down.
The scabbard is wood cored, with a long metal chape with baldric clip and a decorative boot. The leather wrap goes over the metal and encases most of it.
The sword knot isn't specifically Swedish, but they used buff into the 20th Century.
HANDLING
The sword weighs 3.0 lbs. The sword has a PoB of 5ish inches. Balance favors the blade, but not so much as to feel very uncomfortable. You'll need to practice a bit to get control of it. I like the feel of the sword, but I'm 6'2" and 215 lbs.
Pic below is a closed hand grip. You need to find a comfortable point for a fairly tight hold. Once you're there it will move very nicely.
Below is an open handed grip. You cannot deliver a point in a straight line, with optimum reach, unless you can go open hand. That's why they invented the grip. The thumb ring is large to accommodate the transition, back and forth.
SUMMARY
The hard part:
Rustic looking. The hilt is painted black, not blackened. The alignment isn't perfectly true. Nothing dramatic, but if you want to nitpick look from the quillon down the blade.
(Correction: I passed the review to Aarvind Chouhan at USI. He advised me that per T Gavelin's guidance a linseed based oil was baked on to produce a blackening. It's not pretty, but historical. )
I let KoA sharpen it for me. Didn't do a very good job on this one
T Gavelin, the man who ordered these swords and deals with originals, says these are historically acceptable recreations. You can see the review on you tube.
I'm wavering on a 4 of 5. I like it enough to make it a 4, but a lot depends on how you feel about HC swords.
Cheers
ADDENDUM: I have been unable to obtain a volumne on period Swedish swords so that I can become sufficiently familier with the time line and characteristics. Had found only one copy of Heribert Seitz's Swedish Arm Swords 1500-1860, and the advertiser failed to locate the product he is still advertising.
I submit two photos of of type 1685 infantry sidearms:
The first sword is has a shortened guard plate and a diamond shaped broadsword blade. The second looks to be a 1685 as described by Gavelin. Note there is no ricasso and the flat of hex blade is sinificantly less than the USI model. This sword was offered up on ebay from a Malta antiques dealer.
The cavalry version of the 1685 came out in 1701. Blade is longer. I will add some photos later of that one. Chart will also have to be redone.
Apologize for the train wreck. The blade geometry brings into question any display of this and the French series of Maison du Roi swords. At least where the french swords are concerned I have the reference material on hand.
( 6 Aug: It has been brought to my attention that the functional discription offered for use of the 1685 is inadequate. I have ordered several books referenced on Deutches Blankwaffen Forum. I won't change any of the presentation until I have a chance to review these. Thanx.)
INTRODUCTION
Some years back, T Gavelin, a Swedish antiques dealer, contracted Universal Swords India to make him a list of exclusive use Swedish military swords from the 17-18th Century. 2017, Gavelin has dropt the reproduction business and USI has now put these swords into general distribution. Per Aarvind Chouhan, KOA has taken delivery on some samples of what will be a larger delivery in the April/May time frame.
BACKGROUND
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_War
If you are not acquainted with 17-18th Century Baltic history, suffice to say that the Baltic bloodbath didn't end with the Vikings. Control of the sea lanes and dynastic land expansion rocked back and forth between the powers of the moment. Survival needed friends. Royal family intermarriages was the best way to achieve that, although it got sticky when your sovereign suddenly becomes the first heir of your greatest enemy and decides to jump ship for the better paying job.
Sweden had ambitions greater than it's resources. That cost Gustavus Augustus his life in the 30 Years War. A new Alexander, the young militant king Charles XII of Sweden, went to war with a coalition of states much too deep for him to handle. The Swedes had some success in the early stages of the War but they eventually had to face the emerging goliath of a Russia rushing to modernity under the leadership of Czar Peter I (The Great). Swedish ambition was destroyed at Poltava (1709), only half way through the war. It would drag on 11 more years before Sweden paid large to stop the bleeding.
CHARACTERISTICS
( Chart references to this as a cavalry sword are incorrect. This is an infantry side arm.
The hilt is large and there is room for a big hand. The sword has design cues showing itself to be a descendent of the Walloon. The grip is brass wired and rounded. With the thumb ring it appears to demand a closed fisted grip.
The single quillon is decorative, as you can't thumb what's straight up. Sword appears peened and filed down.
The scabbard is wood cored, with a long metal chape with baldric clip and a decorative boot. The leather wrap goes over the metal and encases most of it.
The sword knot isn't specifically Swedish, but they used buff into the 20th Century.
HANDLING
The sword weighs 3.0 lbs. The sword has a PoB of 5ish inches. Balance favors the blade, but not so much as to feel very uncomfortable. You'll need to practice a bit to get control of it. I like the feel of the sword, but I'm 6'2" and 215 lbs.
Pic below is a closed hand grip. You need to find a comfortable point for a fairly tight hold. Once you're there it will move very nicely.
Below is an open handed grip. You cannot deliver a point in a straight line, with optimum reach, unless you can go open hand. That's why they invented the grip. The thumb ring is large to accommodate the transition, back and forth.
SUMMARY
The hard part:
Rustic looking. The hilt is painted black, not blackened. The alignment isn't perfectly true. Nothing dramatic, but if you want to nitpick look from the quillon down the blade.
(Correction: I passed the review to Aarvind Chouhan at USI. He advised me that per T Gavelin's guidance a linseed based oil was baked on to produce a blackening. It's not pretty, but historical. )
I let KoA sharpen it for me. Didn't do a very good job on this one
T Gavelin, the man who ordered these swords and deals with originals, says these are historically acceptable recreations. You can see the review on you tube.
I'm wavering on a 4 of 5. I like it enough to make it a 4, but a lot depends on how you feel about HC swords.
Cheers
ADDENDUM: I have been unable to obtain a volumne on period Swedish swords so that I can become sufficiently familier with the time line and characteristics. Had found only one copy of Heribert Seitz's Swedish Arm Swords 1500-1860, and the advertiser failed to locate the product he is still advertising.
I submit two photos of of type 1685 infantry sidearms:
The first sword is has a shortened guard plate and a diamond shaped broadsword blade. The second looks to be a 1685 as described by Gavelin. Note there is no ricasso and the flat of hex blade is sinificantly less than the USI model. This sword was offered up on ebay from a Malta antiques dealer.
The cavalry version of the 1685 came out in 1701. Blade is longer. I will add some photos later of that one. Chart will also have to be redone.
Apologize for the train wreck. The blade geometry brings into question any display of this and the French series of Maison du Roi swords. At least where the french swords are concerned I have the reference material on hand.