Richly Ornamented Oakeshott Type XVa Sword

1600-1620 (blade 1500 - 1530)

Culture: Italian, Venice

Overall length 124.5 cm; blade length: 101 cm; width 20.8 cm (guard)

Ceremonial sword made in one hand-and-a-half style. The decoration of the hilt dates to the late 16th or early 17th century, a period in which this kind of swords were increasingly produced to serve during ceremonial occasions as symbols of Office. The use of a pre-existing blade was apparently of common practice. The hilt of the sword present designs that show that the swords was made for a member of the prominent Venetian Pisani family.

The Pisani family is a Venetian patrician family, originating from Pisa, which played an important role in the historic, political and economic events of the Venetian Republic during the period between the 12th and the beginning of the 18th Century. The principal male line of the family, namely the Pisanis of Santo Stefano, died out at the end of the 19th Century.

For more information about the Oakeshott Type XVa see this extract from Ewart Oakeshott's Records of the Medieval Sword: sword-site.com/thread/166/oakeshott-type-records-medieval-sword

Source: www.pba-auctions.com/