Oakeshott Type XVII Sword with Scent Stopper Pommel

Period: late 14th Century

Description: Hand-and-a-half sword or bastard sword. (Type XVII). Large well-formed pommel in the shape of a truncated wedge, rounded at the top where it is cut into ridges, two on each side of the tang-rivet, set at right-angles to the plane of the blade. The tang-rivet button is in the form of a small stepped pyramid. The main faces are faintly ridged, vertically, and the edges are strongly chamfered. Stout tang of flat rectangular section, stamped on one side with a well-marked Gothic capital letter B. Cross of quadrangular section slightly arched from the thickened midpoint, deeply slotted on the underside to take the shoulders of the blade, the slot being considerably wider than the blade itself. Blade, long and acutely tapering, of flattened hexagonal section, lightly fullered in the upper third. There is a mark (a sword or dagger) inlaid in latten upon either face of the blade, 5.7 cm (2 1/4") below the hilt.
Found on the bed of the Great Ouse at Ely, Cambridgeshire, 1845. On the back of the blade is a legend in white paint stating, incorrectly, that it was taken from the River Cam at Ely. This is a mistake, which has been perpetuated ever since in every literary reference to it.

Production Place (legacy): Europe, production, continent

Production Note(s): Western Europe

While there are very many examples of this type (XVII) of sword, only a few survive with hilts - i.e. pommel and cross - of the same exact form as this. The most notable are two swords taken in the 19th century from the graves of two knights, Frederiks von Tarant and Friedrich von Griffenstein, in the Abbey church of Königsfeld in Aarau, Switzerland. These knights fell in the battle of Sempach (1386) and were buried in the nearby Abbey. The sword on Von Tarant has a very similar mark on the blade, except that there are two swords side-by-side and an added cross fourche. Another rather small example is in the collection of Mr R.T. Gwynn of Epsom, Surrey. There is a similar one, with a shorter grip, in the Odescachi Collection in Rome.

Technique(s): casting (process); whole
inlay (process); decoration

Material(s): steel; whole brass (alloy); decoration

Technique Description: sword, cast and inlaid with brass in the fuller

Dimension(s): length, whole, 105.5, cm length, blade, 82.0, cm width, blade at hilt, 3.7, cm length, tang, 23.7, cm width, cross, 32.3, cm weight, whole, 1.15, kg

Acquisition: given; 1934-07-30; The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Provenance: W.B. Redfern Coll., see Sotheby's sale catalogue, 20th June, 1934, lot 107, ill. pl. iii, but bought privately beforehand.

Inscription: mark; on the tang; stamped; armourers mark

Documentation: Laking, G.F.. 1920-22. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries.London?: p. p. 254

Publ. Vol. II, p. 254, fig. 630

Oakeshott, R. Ewart. 1960. The Archaeology of Weapons. London?: Publ. pl. 16c, National Art-Collections Fund1935. National Art-Collections Fund Thirty-first Annual Report 1934.London?: p. p. 60 Publ. p. 60, no. 946, ill. opposite

Oakeshott, R. Ewart. 1991. Records of the Medieval Sword. Woodbridge: p. pp. 158-9 Publ. Illustrated and discussed, pp. 158-9, XVII.I. Dated to c.1370-1400

Oakeshott, R. Ewart. 1964. The Sword in the Age of Chivalry. London?: Lutterworthp. p. 66 Publ. p. 66, figs. 39 and 40

Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen-und-Kostumkunde. Publ.

Oakeshott, R. Ewart. Arms and Armour in the Fitzwilliam. Source Title: Apollo CXXVI (July-1987) p. pp. 20-4 Publ. Illustrated and discussed, pp. 20-24, on p. 21, figs. 2 & 3 (sword and hilt) text pp. 21-22

Redfern, W.B.. On Some Choice Sword-Hilts. Source Title: Connoisseur LXV CCLIX (1923) Publ.

Oakeshott, R. Ewart. 1987. The ''Sempach'' Family of Swords.London?: Source Title: The Fourth Park Dane Arms Fair(February-1987) p. pp. 7-15
Publ. The Fourth Park Dane Arms Fair, 20th and 21st February, 1987, Catalogue designed and produced by Apollo Magazine, London, pp. 7-15, ill. pp. 10 & 11, fig. 5a and b.

Accession: Object Number: M.2-1934 (Applied Arts) (record id: 18841; input: 2001-01-25; modified: 2011-12-02)

Source: data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18841