hello, I'm IPostSwords, and THESE are my top 5 favorite antique swords that I have in my
collection.
Lets start off with number 5...
This is a French Model of 1882 Infantry Officers Sword, however this is one of the extremely
fancy, presentation grade swords, made according to the model of 1882.
This particular example is inscribed with the date 17th of july, 1896, and it has an
elaborately frost etched blade on both sides.
It also has an elaborately decorated guard, featuring a vine leaf motif across the entire
guard.
The backstrap, likewise, is also very elaborately decorated.
It features the initials of the person who Initially owned it, being SC or CS.
This example is exceptionally fine, it is comparable to pieces in museums, such as the
Australian War Memorial, another place which hosts and elaborately decorated 1882.
I actually own something like 5* model 1882s, or derivatives of that model, including predecessors
from the African Colonies.
It is one of my patterns of sword of all time, and THIS is one of my favorite examples, in
my collection, or any other.
It is both a stout and long bladed sword, clearly made to be able to withstand the rigors
of battle, but made for someone who would prefer to be seen, rather than engage in battle.
It is exceptionally finely made, being made of German Silver, an alloy which does not
actually contain silver, but nonetheless looks very similar.
And that, is number 5.
Number 4 on my list is a rather more "exotic" sword, if you will.
This is a Turkish Yataghan, a foward-curving infantry sword, made for a Zeybek Chief.
Zeybeks refer to an Anatolian form of Militia, and a "Efe", or Chief, is a sort of person
who would have owned this particular example.
The blade is made of multiple bars of twisted steel, known as a Turkish Ribbon Twist, and
is inlaid on one side with the Names of the Seven Sleepers, from a Quranic Legend, based
off the Cave of Ephesus, in the region of western Anatolia.
And on the other side, it is signed that it was "made by Hussein".
The hilt on this is likely made of rams horn, which has been reshaped in heat in order to
have a characteristic T shaped pommel, which is how you know that this sword was made for
a zeybek.
The blade and hilt however, are of a much higher manufacturing quality than what you
normally see on Zeybek militiamens swords, which tells us that is was probably for an
Efe, or Chief.
It is also of the form that you see all across Ottoman Turkey, at the time, somewhere in
the early half of the 18th century.
It is therefore unclear whether this has been rehilted FOR a zeybek Efe, or whether it is
simply a very generic blade style with inscriptions that match the region.
It is an exceptionally well made martial sword, being incredibly stiff, due to a T shaped
spine.
The relatively broad and very acutely edged blade is still extremely sharp to this day,
you could shave hair with this.
This sword is one of the best handling sword in my collection, despite the relatively stout
blade, and balancing relatively far into the blade, the light overall weight and manageable
length of this sword mean it would be an exceptionally good infantry sword, especially if you're
on something like a boat or spending a lot of time using a shield.
Overall, this Turkish Yataghan is my fourth favorite blade in my collection.
My number 3 favorite sword in my collection also hails from Ottoman Turkey, but is slightly
later.
This is an Ottoman Pala, a type of infantry Kilij, or rather, "sword" in Turkish, intended
for use by both infantry and cavalry, depending on the length of the sword.
This particular example is on the shorter side, and was therefore intended for an infantryman
to use.
This particular Pala is also made of Turkish Ribbon Twist, however in this case, it's made
entirely of twisted bars of steel, the entire width of the blade, making it an incredibly
attractive and valuable blade to have.
The hilt on this is made of horn, and the corssguard is made of a copper alloy, most
likely some form of bronze.
Much like the earlier Yataghan I showed, this blade, from around 1780, is both short and
overall very light, and feature a T shaped spine.
This, once again, makes it an incredibly maneuverable sword, which is also, again, relatively light
and incredibly stiff, owing to this T shaped spine.
The distal portion of the blade has no such T shaped spine, and is incredibly thin, meaning
that the blade geometry in this part of the blade is ideal for slashing cuts, and chops,
into people wearing textile clothing and padded armors, which it would have encountered fairly
often.
It does however mean that this blade is incredibly poor at thrusting, and this portion is extremely
flexible, and can only get through very soft targets, for example someone wearing civilian
clothing.
This Ottoman Pala, from between 1780 and around 1810, is one of the finest examples of pattern
welding from its region, it may not be an elaborately decorated sword, as it features
no ornamentation in the form of metal inlays, however the steel itself is of exceptionally
high quality, and still has a good ringing hard temper to this day.
My number 2 top sword is a return to Europe.
This is a European Colichemarde smallsword, although ti is a very atypical example of
such.
A normal Colichemarde smallsword will narrow down in the last two thirds of the blade,
being only broad near the hilt.
This example however, is broad for entire length, for reasons which no one can entirely
explain, as it is truly One of a Kind.
It features an elaborately pierced hilt, which is original to the blade, as well as a significantly
more crude knucklebow and grip, which are probably not original to the blade, and are
19th century replacements, indicated by the faceted style of this cut steel grip.
The pommel however is original to the guard, and features the same floral motif, a sort
of vine leaf style.
The blade on this is classic, hollow ground triangular section, as you would see on any
smallsword, however it is MUCH, MUCH broader, being broad to an almost extreme extent.
As a result, it has sharp cutting edges, which are more than capable of producing draw and
push cuts if they come in contact with your skin.
It is also incredibly stiff, despite its light weight.
This sword is so stiff, that I cannot bend it without exerting extreme pressure on it,
which I'm not going to do, because it's from around 1720 to 1740, according to the blade
and hilt components (that are original to the blade).
This blade is relatively short and relatively light, however it is exceptionally agile,
exceptionally stiff, and has the ability to both cut and thrust.
This would therefore make a pretty exceptional duelling sword, despite its overall shorter
length.
And while this sword is relatively short, I would LOVE to have a full length reproduction
to use in my own testing.
The blade on this sword is exceptionally unique, however, other very broad smallswords do exist,
though most of them are more tapered than this.
An example can actually be seen in the Mount Vernon collection, owned by George Washington,
of one of these extremely broad smallswords, although even that is more tapered than my
example.
And that sums up my number 2, an unusual colichemarde smallsword.
And finally, we come to my favorite sword in my collection, it will come as no surprise
to my regular viewers to see this regular guest on the channel.
This is a persian shamshir, or cavalry sword, from around 1590 to 1601.
It is signed Assad Allah al Isfahani, one of the most famous blacksmiths in the entirety
of persian history.
It's made of Pulad Kara Khorasan, or black steel from the Khorasan region.
Pulad is a form of crucible steel, naturally forming patterns due to key impurities in
its composition.
This blade is a dedicated cavalry sabre, being both relatively long, relatively hefty, and
balancing far from the guard.
It is, nonetheless, an incredibly well made sword, and even in an infantry context, the
way I handle it, it feels very well balanced, if a little on the heavy side.
It features a steel pommel, a horn grip, and a steel crossguard, as well as the gold inlaid
kara khorasan blade, as mentioned earlier.
The story on this sword, supposedly says that it was imported by Sefer Muratovich, an Armenian
Merchant around the year 1601, who went on a mercantile mission according to the behest
of Polish king Zygmunt III Waza, or Sigmund the third Waza.
Thi sword is made of watered steel, which is more commonly known as True Damascus Steel,
it is made no folding in its processing, it simply has patterns due to the key impurities
in the steel.
One day, I would love to have a chemical analysis done on this blade, using atomic emission
spectroscopy, however that's currently outside of my budget, for reasons you can most likely
understand.
This sword is therefore one of my oldest swords, and by FAR my rarest, and truth be told, my
favorite sword in my collection.
This has been IPostSwords, I hope you've enjoyed the video, because that's all I've got for
you today.
Until next time, stay sharp.