A Scottish Basket Hilted Sword of the late 17th century mounted with an “S” Bar Hilt

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Price: £3,150

Ref: 42020365

Item Description

A Scottish basket hilted broad sword dating to the late 17th century. The broad double edged blade is of fine quality of the type favored by Scottish Highlanders at the time.

The basket is of early type. To the front it is fashioned in the usual manner with two main frontal guard panels mounted within structural guard bars on either side of the knuckle bow which is formed as a narrower plate. The three plates are decorated with patterns of pierced hearts and circles and incised with border lines. The sides of the guard plates are fretted at the edges. Between the side structural guard bars and the rear guard bars the spaces are filled with bold merlons at the base and “S” shaped bars in the middle.

The “S” bar is an early feature which arrived as Scottish basket hilts evolved into more complex forms in the 17th century.  It started to disappear in the early 18th century to be replaced in hilt design with a pierced panel of similar form to the knuckle bow built onto the merlons at the base of the side spaces.  The secondary rear guard bar and the scrolled wrist guard which are features of later fully developed hilts have not yet evolved for this hilt which places it to the late 17th century in date.

The pommel is cone-shaped with three sets of grooves radiating from the waisted pommel button. The three upper arms of the guard are securely tucked into a pronounced groove cut around the lower half of the pommel. The baluster shaped grip is of spirally grooved wood, covered with shagreen, now lacking its wire binding.

The broad late 17th / early 18th century lenticular section blade is probably of Solingen manufacture and is just under 31 inches (78.5 cm) long. It has two bold fullers extending in parallel down the blade from an inch (2.5 cm) below the hilt for 4 inches (10 cm). The fullers are cut with letters, now illegible, which may form the words “ANDRIA” in the upper fuller on each side and “FARARA” in the fuller beneath.  This was a common mark at the time applied by Solingen armourers to their blades as a mark of quality. Towards the end of the fullers on each side narrower incised lines form stylised cruciform designs.

Early Scottish basket hilts with “S” bars are not excessively rare but they do not appear for sale often. The feature seems to have disappeared by the second quarter of the 18th century when the “S” bars were being replaced with side panels of similar proportions emulating the central knucklebow panel.

For a similar hilt see Cyril Mazansky, “British Basket-Hilted Swords”,  The Boydell Press, 2005, page 86 fig E3, for a sword in a private American collection dated to 1650.

The overall length of the sword is just under 36.75 inches (93.5 cm). The hilt is in russet uncleaned condition.