An Italian Schiavona dating to circa 1740

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Price: £1,980

Ref: 52102330

Item Description

A Venetian Schiavona dating to the early 18th century. The hilt is a typical representation of the distinctive design of the Schiavona guard, consisting of a complex trellis of delicately formed flattened bars swollen in the middle with rounded and well finished edges. This style of basket hilted sword is unique to northern Italy and particularly the territories held by the Venetian Republic throughout the early modern period which was also a powerful naval force in the eastern Mediterranean.

The angled rear quillon terminates in a globular finial. The brass pommel is fashioned in the typical cat’s head shape with integral button and waisted collar beneath and is finished with a grotesque mask on each side. The knuckle bow terminates at the top with a knopped loop secured to the forward pommel ear. The wooden grip is covered with an attractive brass wire binding and mounted with brass ferrules top and bottom.

Typically, the hilt is asymmetrical and is made for a right-handed user indicated by the position of the thumb loop inside the basket guard. The guard is most complex and decorative on the outside where it protects the upper hand of the user, whereas the inner face, less visible and less important for defence, consists of fewer bars which creates a lightweight but strong structure for the hilt.

The single edged blade has a single broad fuller extending from the end of a short ricasso near the hilt to the tip. The blade is just over 31.25 inches (79.5 cm) long and in total the sword is just under 37 inches (94 cm) long. The sword is in good russet condition covered with an attractive and consistent brown patina with minor patches of light pitting on some parts of the hilt.