AUCTIONS IMPERIAL JUNE 2022 ARMS & ARMOR
Lot 210:
Description
An exceptional example, the hemispherical wrought steel cup with silver rosettes. The quillons with silver mushroomed finials. The wooden grip covered in extremely rare sharkskin and studded throughout with silver, the ferrules likewise wrought of silver. The broad, straight, double-edged blade with embellished brass-mounted tang cover, with short double fullers bearing an illegible inscription and tapering gently to the tip, with diamond-shaped makers marks to the forte. Mid-18th c. or earlier. Minor wear and loss to sharkskin. Swords of this form are known as the Caribbean cuphilt; they were produced both in Europe and the New World, but endemic to the Spanish Main (Spanish possessions in the New World directly accessible from Spain, including the coastline from present-day Florida to Venezuela and the Caribbean Islands.) They are one of the very few weapons which may be authentically ascribed to privateers generally and to buccaneers, who preyed on the Spanish Main, specifically. Most Caribbean cuphilts have seen hard use over the centuries. This example remains is very good condition. See Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America, 1700 – 1821. By Sidney B. Brinckerhoff and Pierce A. Chamberlain. Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1972, for similar examples in the Arizona Historical Society Collection, Tucson, Arizona. Overall length102cm.
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