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Sword: HEN.M.204-1933

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Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Sword. Hilt of bright steel. Large conical pommel, without a tang-button, circular in plan with an elegant neck below the base. The front and back are each decorated with a triangular patch of chiselling, of vague floriate design. Grip (in original condition) of oval section, strongly shouldered about 2.5 cm from the top, where it meets the neck of the pommel, covered in fishskin, with leather on the upper part. The guards, all of well-shaped hexagonal section consist of quillons and branches. The long forward and rear quillons are horizontally recurved and widen to a slight balbosity at the tips. The branches support a large upper ring-guard forward of the ecusson, and a smaller one joining the lower elements. The upper ring-guard supports a thumb-ring set at right angles to the plane of the blade. The blade is long and very slightly tapering, of flat hexagonal section, decorated for 24.1 cm (9 ½") below the ricasso with a waved pattern. The strong ricasso is stamped with a maker's mark on one side. Below it, the centre of the blade is decorated with engraved straight lines along each 'edge' of the flat piece against the chamfer towards each edge of the blade; between these lines, a long zigzag line.

Notes

History note: Unknown before testator, 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex

Legal notes

J.S. Hendeson Bequest

Measurements and weight

Length: 126.3 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart

Dating

16th Century, Mid
Circa 1540 CE - 1550 CE

Components of the work

Grip composed of fish skin leather
Blade Length 106.7 cm Width 4.2 cm
Hilt Length 25.4 cm
Quillons Width 25.4 cm
Decoration

Materials used in production

Steel

Techniques used in production

Casting (process) : Sword, cast, with chiselled and engraved decoration

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: P.B.104 Henderson
  • Type: Tag

Identification numbers

Accession number: HEN.M.204-1933
Primary reference Number: 18897
Old object number: PB 104

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 29 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Sword" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18897 Accessed: 2025-12-05 11:03:48

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18897 |title=Sword |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 11:03:48|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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