Nathan, those are really beautiful weapons. Such graceful baskets on heart-attack serious blades.

John, I've always been intrigued by your interesting and unconventional website. I'd be particularly interested to see and hear about the Ban Chiang (Ancient Thailand) and Dong Sung (Ancient Vietnam) pieces in your collection. Never have been able to find them on your site.

Dear Andrew,

I will start a new discussion thread with a topic of SE Asian weaponry.

Best regards, John Piscopo

Dear Friends,

Casa d'Asta Czerny, an Italian militaria auction house, is offering five Schiavonas for sale in its May auction. Look for lots 484-488. Click here

I routinely print out auction pages from online auctions and this helps me to create my own reference work to supplement the books in my library. To see the index of all the items offered in this auction, go to:
http://www.czernys.com/frame-catalogo-12.html I have purchased from Michael Czerny who runs this operation for many years. Just remember that the prices are in Euros, not dollars. Multiply the bid price by 120%, then add 25% for their commission and shipping charges.

Wow - altough the Stevenson piece is of course wonderful, I have to admit that I'm personally blown away by the Bárta schiavona, especially with the blade decoration.

Hanging out on this site is very bad for me, people - I'm slowly being drawn over the western side of blades (yes, I know that the site isn't officially centered on western blades, but you have to admit that they're quite popular here). What am I to do?!?

Wow! A lot of really beautyful swords there... Lovely collection, John!

-Henrik

For those who are interested, I have put some pictures of my new Armour Class Schiavona on the net at www.oddblogbgod.com/schiavona

James

Dear Friends,

Over Memorial Day weekend my daughter announced her engagement. The wedding will be in September, I think, and I will need to raise some cash. If anyone is interested in purchasing one of my Schiavona swords, please contact me at (708)246-7111 or email me at jpisc98357@aol.com.

First of all,

John,
Congratulations! Best of luck to your daughter! Sorry you have to get rid of some of your collection. Could you post some more detailed picture of the Schiavone? Also, what on earth is that serrated weapon in the lower left-ish of your original post to this thread :wtf: ?

Nathan,
Impressive collection. I especially like the Phoenix basket. The back is as beautiful as the front and I love the shaping of the bars, they really have a elegant "dimesional" look to them. I really think the Schiavona is the most elegant basket hilt for some reason. One question, were these swords more ornate on the outside (these all appear to be right hander swords) just for aesthetic reasons or was there some other reason for the asymmetry of these baskets?

Thanks,

Given our recent update package all about the schiavona, I thought I'd bring this topic back to show those who have not yet seen this.

Also, please see This Topic for another example.

It's good to see older topics brought back to light.

I know the MRL Type 2 Schiavona didn't receive a great deal of praise in reviews and what not. However, I used mine (that I antiqued out) for a presentation/demo over the week-end, to carve-up a pumpkin in a little cutting demo and was quite happy with it's performance.

More discussions, articles, etc, on complex hilts is refreshing none the less.

Thanks Nathan.

Bill

I recently took some new photos of my two Del Tin schiavone after doing some reconditioning on them. I'm putting them up for sale and typed up a few words about them so figured I'd add them to this topic for the sake of posterity.

A Del Tin 5173 Schiavona and Del Tin 2170 Schiavona

Many years ago I became interested in the schiavona. I had been a long-time fan of British basket-hilts, particularly Scottish types, but at the time very few examples of "Continental" styles could be found on the reproduction market. I started on a quest to get makers to explore making them. One of these makers was Fulvio Del Tin of Del Tin Armi Antiche of Italy.

Del Tin had a schiavona model (DT2170) in their line-up in the early 90s but by the time I approached them in 2001, the model had long since been discontinued. At the urging of a few people including myself, they introduced a new model a couple years later. It was the DT5173 and I bought one of the first pieces to leave their shop.

A short time later, I was able to get my hands on the earlier DT2170 model from circa 1991. The difference between the two is striking. They don't look to be based on the same pattern at all. For me, this was a good thing! Antique schiavone can be found in all kinds of forms and "grades". Whereas the DT5173 looks to be of a more refined example, the DT2170 is certainly a good representative example of a so-called "munitions-grade" sword.

Here are some photos. Please note that the first photo shows the DT5173 on top.

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Click photos for full-sized versions

Regarding the DT5173: I've removed the varnish that Del Tin uses as a rust preventative. I've sanded the basket to 600 grit and then used a gray Scotchbrite pad on it and the blade to give an even satin finish similar to how Albion finishes their products. The result is much, much, much more pleasing than the standard Del Tin finish. The blade has a slightly sharper edge than most Del Tin sword and while I'd still call it a rebated edge, I've cut with it on a couple occasions with success.

The DT2170 is over 20 years old. As mentioned, the pattern gives the impression of a munitions-grade sword and so I've kept the basket in the same condition that I received it: with an ample amount of age visible. The result looks very much like several antique examples. When yanked around, one noticed a tiny bit of play in the basket but it's still very solid and sound. The blade is fairly sharp on this one and I've used it for cutting with good results.

The stats are below. Click the links to get descriptions of each piece:

DT5173
Overall length: 39.125"
Weight: 3.1 pounds
Width of guard: 6"
Blade: 33" long; 1.75" wide at base
Fuller: 16" long
Grip and pommel: 5.75" long
Point of Balance (PoB): 4.75" from guard
Center of Percussion (CoP): ~22" from guard

DT2170
Overall length: 41"
Weight: 2.9 pounds
Width of guard: 9"
Width of grip: 1.25"
Blade: 34.5" long below finger rings; 1.375" wide tapering to .625"
Fuller: 11" long
Grip and pommel: 6" long
Point of Balance (PoB): 4.5" from guard
Center of Percussion (CoP): ~21" from guard