George Silver's short sword

[admin]

This one was bought by a member of the UK HEMA community who posted it on Facebook. I *think* that it has been put together from parts of different swords (hence the relatively low price), with a replacement grip of course. The extension on the pommel is quite strange and I'm not sure what to make of it.

[Jonathan Waller]

yes I looked at the picture again in the zoom mode on the site after posting my original message... there is something.... odd..... about the sword, not just the fact that it looks assembled... more a feeling really....

[admin]

Revisiting this subject, as in the last few months I have noted a few specifically English swords with a different style of hilt to that documented above.

Here is Silver's only sword image:

[admin]

Now, Silver's image is ambiguous enough to not really show exactly what sort of hilt he is talking about, but I do think it is relevant and interesting to look at, because he does seem to express views on hilts, specifically in their degree of protection and also their accessibility in action.

Here is the type of English hilt which I have seen recurring examples of, usually dated by people to around 1610-1630, though I do not know what they base that dating on. To me I would tend towards an earlier date, more around 1580-1610:

[admin]

I have uploaded these photos, as sadly so many of the images earlier in the thread are now broken links, but they come from this dealer's website - the blade is 36.5 inches long:

http://www.albanarms.com/index.php?mact ... eturnid=60