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Post by hotspur on Feb 23, 2009 18:05:22 GMT
I thought I might post some spadroons as comparison size to larger straight swords. The Patton sword is a Windlass and the only reproduction in the shot. The big one is a French mle 1854 Dragoon (or dragon), near as long overall as my merdieval Xlla and XIIIa. The spadroons range to about 32" blades and are above and below. The eagles on top are roughly 1800-1820ish in style and the two below are an Ames 1840 nco from 1864 and an old spadroon likely around the 1780s. While I continue looking/browsing to adopt more spadroons, the dragon is to be my one large straight sword for now. It was a model I have wanted and planned for many years. It will hopefully eventually get paired with a French mle 1822 sabre or a German, perhaps American made model 1840 heavy "wristbreaker" Pattons continue to surface on the market at some reasonable prices. More and more though, they are getting more expensive as antiques. Suprising, as there are still buckets of them sitting somewhere. My eagle spadroons, what can I say. I'll probably try to get more. There is an interesting eagle about to end at Ebay that was/is a buy it now price at $575. Not entirely badly priced and may well sell at the auction for less. My five-ball was considerably less than that and was being ignored on Ebay. Sometimes one never knows what may opportunity might lurk. Anyway, some late straight stuff I use for wallhangers and light play (never did sharpen the Patton).  Cheers Hotspur; then again, there are those pretty Citadel swords over at Shadow |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2009 21:03:07 GMT
Glen, Thank you for posting the comparison shot. So frequently swords are viewed in isolation and it is nice to be able to see their proportions side by side. The French M1854 looks like the beast of the bunch (as in most intimidating), and despite my propensity for British swords it is my favorite of the bunch. I really need to do a group shot once I figure out (cheap) indoor lighting.  |
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Post by hotspur on Feb 23, 2009 23:26:53 GMT
The 1854 is a big bad boy, fer sure. Not quite oone metre of blade but it is close to that. It is/was a very purposeful sword type and lasted into the 20th century for use. I believe it was the carbiniers that are another inch or so of blade length. This is fourty-five inches point to peen, with a blade 38 1/2"long. The sword weighs three pounds, add two more for the iron scabbard. This sword is fairly sharp but meant as a portable lance, as was/is the Patton. Some more pictures of this one    Worth noting that the two cavalry swords and the Ames1840 nco have grips and guards large enough for even big hands with gloves on. Even for me, this handles on the big and tall size. From a monetary perspective, consider that my three A&A swords were less expensive than some of these but that most of A&A's catalog retails for a good bit more. Cheers Hotspur; I waited years to grab one but it was on the list of have to haves |
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Post by hotspur on Apr 19, 2009 4:31:40 GMT
Another late straight sword I have adopted. Best guess so far for construction is somtime up to 1810 b ut I have seen these patterns as early as the 1790s. We have determined it to be a German blade with likely to have been cutlered in America. I have not found exact provenance of the cutler for this but what it is, is a very nice light spadroon. I'll just link that, as it is wide for the forum. h1.ripway.com/Bombadil/SFI/01comp.jpgAnother spadroon came to mind this weekend in someone asking me information regarding Confederacy's Black Night. A fellow by the name of Turner Ashby who lost his life early in the war but who had been very implemental in tactics and was awarded a sword by Virginia for actions that preceeded the American Civil War. Privately schooled, his family figures into other earlier American history and was apparently quite well trained in horsemanship and swords in a very British form.  Cheers Hotspur; this fellow seems pretty happy with his new sword |
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Post by hotspur on Apr 19, 2009 5:21:15 GMT
Plonk into my files goes that one Jonathan. Thanks very much. That is my stirrup exactly and the pommel fits as well. I do agree that the chusions were already, or at the least contempory to the faceted urn of these. Dmitry is likely in his syurmising a French look but American made swords with lots of English parts. The sabre everyone could svae me from is listed over at www.billybullet.com/cgi-bin/display_items.asp?cat=10&Next=10(I think) on the next page A sabre I am still very close to ordering but I should have jumped on something else this past week as well because a bargain of an 1840 "heavy" is now listed as pending. There are so many, I guess it is no great loss but that one was a steal of a deal. Anywho, yes the cushions are a great study as well. I like to find exactly how tall some are stacked with rings. Dmitry had one of those for awhile with the long cushions. Good to see that one move for him. I want his Wurtenburg at the bottom of the page. That's one of those 'I want" not "I need".  Cheers Hotspur; I always find more buys once I have already spent |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2009 17:28:27 GMT
I assume you have already studied the example from Peterson?  I could see you becoming a collector of these patterns and introducing some new scholarship on them. A Man-at-Arms article, perhaps?  |
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Post by hotspur on Apr 19, 2009 19:24:25 GMT
Yep, looked at Peterson and I was looking through some other books I have. My mind is still a bit mushy to be thinking about writing articles. I lost so much in the way of visual notes, just spadroons entries need my time to rebuild some of that. It is beyond my previous mermory losses.
Thanks for the note.
Hotspur; even lost a reply to your thoughts
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Post by hotspur on Jun 14, 2009 8:37:22 GMT
I have been playing around with silverplating from a company labeled as Alexander Hamilton House Silver Secret Plater. These aren't the best pictures from me but here are some before and after. It likes brass more than copper but a lttle goes a long way with either mediums, even with several brushed applications. These applications were pretty vigourously applied, I wouldn't suggest that just dipping will do it for you unless you keep using a lot. I had been using just six lumpy drops in a container for each hilt and pommel application and pretty much rubbing until the water goes away, then cleaning (with my buddy Windex)The supplied polish seems to me to be just like Noxon but I have used some of that as well.  It seems fairly durable, as I had also quickly done a brass whistle on my keychain and that has been banging around a few weeks now. Pennies have been a real chore but some other brass pieces grab it like a magnet. Interestingly, another copper piece was actually transfering some copper to an adjacent blade. There seems to be something chemically galvanizing going on. Good stuff from the lady of the Alexander Hamilton House. JAX was another alternative. Cheers Hotspur; the horn was hungry for oil too |
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