16th Century Northern Italian Short Sword

Editor's Note: This sword is at once an Oakeshott Type XIX, Oakeshott Type XVI and a contender for Type XV, XIV and XII. I feel it is most strongly a XIX, with the second strongest type it has relevance to being the XIV. This is one of those wonderful swords that defies modern attempts to categorise it. It is a strong reminder that medieval sword makers, and those from the renaissance did not have the Oakeshott typology on their minds when going about their craft.

The sword has a straight, double-edged blade grooved at the centre, with a tip of lozenge section, rectangular tang with three grooves and two stamps on both sides. The hilt is partially gilt and silver-plated, with “S”-shaped quillon decorated with silver dots on golden ground and edges are shaped as lion heads.

The shell-guard has six segments, at the margins are oval cartouches featuring the effigy of soldiers, while the pommel features warriors enclosed in a oval surmounted by a mask and dragon heads on the sides. The wooden grip has silver wire binding and moor’s heads.

Length 68.3 cm

For more information on Oakeshott's typology see these extracts from Ewart Oakeshott's Records of the Medieval Sword: sword-site.com/thread/251/index-ewart-oakeshotts-medieval-typologies

Source: www.czernys.com/