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Swords
Sword, weapon of offense and defense in personal combat, consisting of a blade
with a sharp point and one or two cutting edges, set in a hilt with a handle protected by a metal case or cross guard.
The sword may have developed from the dagger at the beginning of the Bronze Age.
It was not, however, until the more durable iron sword was introduced in the early Iron Age that the sword became an effective weapon.
Greek and Roman swords were very short, with pointed ends, and had two cutting edges. Medieval knights used two types of swords: a short sword with a pointed end that was used with one hand and a heavy two-handed sword with a rounded end.
During the Middle Ages the best blades were those made by the Arabs in Damascus and Toledo. Swords were widely used in the Middle East and E Asia as well as in Europe.
The scimitar, used by the Persians and Arabs, is a curved steel sword. One of the best known of the East Asian swords is the Japanese samurai sword, consisting of a curved single-edged tempered steel blade set in a long handle.
As a highly personal weapon the sword attained symbolic importance; surrendering one's sword became a token of submission, and the custom of taking an officer's sword away from him and breaking the blade when he was dismissed from the service in disgrace arose because a sword is the mark of an officer and a gentleman.
During the Crusades and later, the sword, because of its shape, frequently was used to symbolize the Cross. The sword is now obsolete as a weapon and is carried in some military units for decorative purposes in times of peace. Special types of swords are the rapier, the épée, and the saber.
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Varieties of Collectible Swords
For thousands of years the sword remained the ultimate weapon; a potent symbol of authority, power, justice and nobility. Though the basic structure can be traced back to flint knives of the Stone Age, man's ability to create a long-bladed sword dates to the metal-based culture we know as the Bronze Age. Bizarrely, bronze swords survive in far greater numbers than the militarily far superior iron sword.
In the history of sword design form was always closely allied to function. Thus a sword designed for slashing and cutting - as most were up to the 16th century - needed to be heavy, with a wide blade. The monstrous two-handed sword (hand-and-a-half swords are also known) - up to six feet long - had its apogee in that century, before being displaced by the rapier, with thin tapering, sometimes faceted blades, better designed for spearing an opponent. Swords up to the 16th century relied on the crosspiece or 'quillon' for hand protection. Then swordsmiths began to add loops and bars of tough metal - often brass. The elegant sweep of a bar, fretwork to the cup-guard makes these rapier designs among the most desirable of blades, after the Samurai sword. By the 18th century, as society stabilised, swords remained a 'de rigueur' male accoutrement, but more for fashionable effect and machismo than self-defence.
The rump of today's collectable swords falls into clear categories:
1) Japanese swords, arguably the finest blades ever made (energetically sought by Japanese collectors, who drive up the price).
2) Asian (especially Indian) swords, often with wickedly curving, chiselled blades and embellished hilts.
3) The Indonesian kris, sometimes having a snakelike blade.
4) European weapons of war, mainly dating from the 18th century onwards. The idea of regulating the style of a sword, the so-called "pattern" swords of the military, was an 18th century development, and for many years officers had wide sway over the style of sword they carried.
5) Small-swords of the 18th century. Look for hilts of cut steel, silver, brass or enamel. A shorter variation on the true rapier, in a skilled hand these were nonetheless formidable instruments of death.
6) Ceremonial or "dress" swords.
7) Hunting swords, whose main function was to deliver the coup de grace to a downed animal, and frequently typified by engraved or etched hunting scenes. These swords are rare and very desirable.
When buying antique swords it is wise to remember that rust is removable, but deeply pitted blades should be shunned. Is a sword a recent "marriage", the result of a repair or an out and out ruse to relieve a collector of his cash? Or was a trusty old blade fitted into a fresh hilt and equipped with new sword "furniture" centuries ago? These are conundrums for the expert eye. However, watch for blades that fit badly into their hilts or bright metal filling. A sword that feels blade-heavy or uncomfortable may also be a fake, since balance was an essential skill of a swordsmith worth his salt. Millers Price Guide shows a Persian short sword, c.1000BC and worth about $500; a 1788 pattern heavy cavalry trooper's spear point sword valued at $1300; a basket-hilted, single edge backsword from the late 18th century, priced at $2,200 and Captain Bligh's (of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' fame) very own court sword, estimated at $15,300.
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