Asset number
809969001
Description
Iron sword corroded into its scabbard (fourteen fragments in total); in extremely poor condition, it had been consolidated with wire supports and a liberal application of plaster. The sword is in fragments, with two separate lengths of tang. Including the base of the tang, the main piece measures 495 mm long; beyond that is a much corroded length of blade with chape binding attached; and finally, after a break, the quite sharp point is still in the end of the chape. The blade could have been about 705 mm long, but it cannot be measured accurately because it includes two probable (but not certain) joins and two badly broken shoulders. The blade is 48 mm wide and fairly flat; its taper can be established from the scabbard. The tang seems to have been rectangular in section and Morel's illustration shows a button terminal that has not survived. The scabbard is also in fragments, but perhaps measured about 730 mm long. Its edges are corroded, but the width, 54 mm at the very top, seems to have been maintained at 52 mm to 520 mm from the top, with no taper whatsoever. The chape binding survives for about 235 mm from the bottom but there are neither chape clamps nor bridge. The chape end is V-shaped and thickened; there is a marked decrease in thickness 78 mm from the bottom, but no clear finials (de Navarro type Aiii). The front plate, which overlaps the back, has a slight groove down one side about 9 mm from the edge, and there is no midrib. The mouth of the scabbard survives on the front plate, but it is damaged in the middle. On the back plate there is a lower loop plate, roughly D-shaped, and 25 mm wide. Fragments from another scabbard had been used in the restoration of this piece, and parts of the original scabbard had been joined incorrectly in the plastered restoration; for instance, the piece of front plate immediately above the chape end had been reversed and placed much higher on the scabbard.
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