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(page 8)
A variation of the typical hilt is
the "pillow" sword, a small and convenient
weapon. In this hilt (fig. 2) two
short quillons are present, sometimes
with a guard, but never with knuckle
defense. The quillons often tend to
droop towards the blade, their tips
sometimes rotating.
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Fig. 3.
SWORD HANGER 1665 FROM
VIOLIN PLAYER
BY G. DOU
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The blade of a typical court sword
is three-edged, with the edges arranged
in the form of a T, the top of the
T being the left side of the blade,
the right side bearing a high supporting
ridge. In cases where the blade is
of colechimarde form (where the basal
blade, or forte, is wide and joins
the narrow apical part, or foible
[feeble], with an abrupt shoulder),
it is assumed that the right side
(the head of the T) will be grooved
as though the third edge had been
embossed from the right side. In some
cases, especially of early court and
" pillow " swords, the blade is two-edged,
usually with a median flattening,
giving in cross-section a flattened
hexagon. The edges are convex ground.
The median flat portion is often grooved,
especially in the forte, the groove
sometimes being so wide as to include
the entire flattened region.
In the following descriptions the terms
"right" and "left" are determined
as follows : hold the sword point
upward - knuckle guard, therefore,
in front of you; the sides of the
sword become then right or left. "Anterior"
indicates the direction of the knuckle
guard, posterior "that of the quillon.
"Proximal" is in the direction of
the pommel, "distal" in the direction
of the point of the blade. Thus the
tang is the proximal element of the
blade; the button is the proximal
element of the pommel; the guard is
the distal element of the hilt.
Scabbards of court swords vary considerably
in material. Shagreen, of ray- or
sharkskin, smoothed and dyed, is often
used; also parchment, calfskin, morocco.
This is usually applied over a thin
wooden foundation. There are several
methods of suspension. In one the
sword is secured
(page 9) by straps or
chains, one of them attached to a
ring near the mouth of the scabbard;
the other, distal, at about a third
of its length. In a second method
of Suspension the entire scabbard
is passed through a leather or cloth
sling (figs. 3-5), retaining its position
by means of hook, button, or toggle
at the top of the scabbard. The latter
method occurs commonly in hunting
swords. These two methods are hereafter
designated as "double ring" and or
"button" suspension respectively.
A third method was by an adjustable
metal hanger (fig. 6) attached to
the belt and provided with a spring
catch or " snap " to fit a tube at
the back of the scabbard. This device
does not appear in any scabbard in
the present collection. Examples of
the various types of sword carriers
are figured on pp. 58-62, 83-86.
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Fig. 4.
SWORD HANGER 1675
FROM PAINING BY C. NETSCHER
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BUDAPEST
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In describing the scabbard use has
been made of the term "front," as
opposed to "back" meaning the side
visible when worn, i.e., covering
the right side of the sword.
In silver hilts hail marks usually
appear. In the case of French court
swords they are apt to occur on the
left side of the anterior pas d'âne,
showing:
1. Date letter. This was usually a
Roman letter crowned, and was used
in Paris and the provinces as the
stamp of the maison commune or guild.
As the letter was changed each year,
following with a few exceptions an
alphabetical order, this punch in
connection with another indicating
the series gives the date. The date
letter was in use until 1783-1784.
2. Maker's mark. This mark usually
consisted of the maker's initials
with some device. Two dots above the
initials indicate a Paris maker. The
most common device found on French
swords is a crowned dagger with the
initials and the two dots already
noted
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Fig. 5.
SWORD HANGER 1770
AFTER FRAGONARD IN LAFONTAINE'S
"FABLES,"
PARIS 1795
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(page 10)
3. Tax collector's stamps. Two were
used, although not necessarily together.
(1) The mark of charge, showing liability
to the tax. French towns were grouped
under centers of jurisdiction for
the tax, and thus grouped were given
mint letters. The letter A was used
for Paris. (2) The mark of discharge,
showing the tax had been paid. This
mark varied with the successive tax
collectors. Stamps of the Paris collectors
most common on the present swords
are those of Jean Jacques Prevost
(1762-68), Julien Alaterre (1768-74),
Jean-Baptiste Fouache (1774-80), and
Henri Clavel (1780-89).
4. Town mark, if provincial work.
5. Recense or verification mark. After
the outbreak of the Revolution fl
1789 and the abolition of all taxes,
there was no government supervision
of gold or silver. In 1797 new marks
were devised, and different punches.
Each maker's mark consisted of a lozenge
containing initials and a symbol.
Government standard punches were uniform
throughout the republic, with a particular
sign or number added for each departmental
office. Old plate offered for sale,
whether it bore other silver marks
or not, was to have a government verification
or recense mark. The eagle's head,
a recense mark made in accordance
with the decree of 1803, is the one
most commonly found on these swords.
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Fig. 6.
STEEL SWORD CARRIER
XVII CENTURY
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On German and Dutch swords are usually
found the town and maker's marks.
English swords usually bear several
or all of the following marks
a) Date letter.
b) Maker's mark.
c) Standard mark (quality of the metal).
d) Government assay mark.
e) Town mark.
In the present catalogue the metric
system has been used for dimensions
and weight. Length (L.), in centimeters,
is recorded over all (from top of
pommel to tip of blade), with length
of blade indicated in parenthesis.
Weight (Wt.) is in grammes. The numerals
at the left of the page denote the
inventory number.
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