#Hans Sumersperger

[memories-of-ancients]

Gothic style hunting sword crafted by Hans Sumersperger of Tyrol, Austria, circa 1490-1500

from The Worcester Art Museum

[kultofathena]

Ádám Bodorics – Ebony Grip Hidden Tang Messer

This beautifully balanced and custom-crafted Messer by specialist swordsmith Ádám Bodorics feels like a natural extension of the hand and its well-tempered and sharp blade slices quickly, cleanly and decisively. The guard and riveted nagel are of steel and the grip is finely carved from smoothly polished fine ebony wood which is directly riveted to the blade tang. The sword is matched with a wood-core scabbard which is lavishly embellished with steel fittings in a landsknecht inspired style. A hanging chain and belt loops allows for it to be worn on the belt. Below are Ádám’s own thoughts on his custom creation:

The large variance in Messers and related sidearms make them a great medium for experimentation and theoretical designs. With this ebony-hilted piece, I intended to create something completely new based on sources mainly from between 1520-1540. In the 16th century, knifelike sidearms undergo several changes, one of them being the increasing regularity of hidden tangs. Illustrations from the period sometimes show rather complex grip shapes that would be complicated with a full-tang construction, but a hidden or a frame tang makes them much more trivial. In this case, I went for a hidden tang and a one-piece ebony grip.

The light, curved blade is ground from 51crv4 high-carbon steel and is heat-treated to 50-52 HrC. While the shape favors cutting and slicing, the tip is subtly reinforced. The spine visibly thickens in the last few milimeters, and the edge angle gets a bit more obtuse. I spotted this detail first on a heavily curved Kriegsmesser from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, but I noticed it elsewhere as well since. The proper tang is relatively short, not an uncommon detail on 16th century specimens.

The short cross with it’s finials is based on a pair of illustrations by Monogramist HD from 1545, and so is the approximate shape of the Nagel. The cross is slid down along the blade and is affixed in place by the triple-fullered, hand-forged and filed Nagel. The most striking part of the Messer is the grip carved and filed from a single piece of Gabon ebony including a shape following pommel type CC2. This is the most theoretical part as well. If we define CC2 pommels as having a complex bottom profile (as opposed to the simple curve of type CC1), then there are plenty of illustrations showing non-metal grip ends matching the type, from Dürer, Beham, etc. If we limit the definition to the somewhat architectural type done by Sumersperger and the makers of several early 16th century pieces, then we even have an existing piece where the shape is part of the organic grip, all the way back in the late 13th century (NDK-1123-2, shown in Cahiers LandArc 2017 N24, pg2). The swirl of the “beak” is present on several sources as well, from a very basic version by Hans Sebald Beham’s “Peasant at the marketplace” through a richly decorated swirl painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in “Judith with the head of Holofernes” all the way to the dizzying all-metal Kriegsmesser by Melchior Diefstetter in Vienna. I aimed at a relatively simple shape that would be still above the one on the Beham woodcut.

The scabbard is based on the already-mentioned illustrations by Monogramist HD. It has a wooden core, a black leather cover and several steel fittings. The largest of said fittings emulate the puff&slash fashion of the time. This detail is found on surviving scabbards of the period, not just in art. The suspension is by a length of handmade mild steel chain and a metal belt loop as in the inspiring illustration. Monogramist HD shows both Messers in a right-side, edge-up carry position – as this is without parallel in the period, I set the scabbard up for a more conventional, left-side, edge-down carry position.

[erikacousland]

Wallace Collection Online - The Collection | Result

Serving knife

Hans Sumersperger

Tyrol

Date:c. 1500

Medium:Iron or steel, copper alloy, antler, rosewood and gold, blued and engraved

Length:32.7 cm, blade

Width:5 cm, at shoulder

Width:5.8 cm, at widest part

Weight:0.76 kg

Inv:A883

*

Description

Serving knife, with a handle of flattened octagonal section, heavily mounted with brass and inlaid with panels of polished antler; engraved along the back strip: BON · FRED · VM · DICH ('Good peace [cheer] about thee') Arch-shaped pommel with short beak; grip inlaid with strips of polished antler and rosewood, and four ivory panels, carved in low relief, representing St. Barbara (?) and other saints the forward end of the brass hilt is extended at right-angles to support the blade; heavy broad blade, single-edged and straight-backed. It is decorated with a band of Goldschmelz along the hollow, bordering the back edge, and is stamped with a maker's mark in the form of an arrow. Tyrolese, made by Hans Sumersperger, c. 1500. Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 6 (2); Hayward, 'Early German cutlery' Apollo Annual, 1949, pp. 60-3, fig. Ill a, but with the caption interchanged with fig. Ill b. Provenance: Joyeau (?) (Un couteau d' écuyer trachant, du XVième siècle, 520 fr. [with un socle reliquaire]; receipted bill, 19 November, 1865); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A like knife, bearing the same mark, is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (De Cosson, Dino Collection, pl. 17, G45). This knife belongs to a group which Dr. Bruno Thomas has identified with Hans Sumersperger of Hall, near Innsbruck, who worked for the Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and made his State sword, now in Vienna (Met. Mus. Bulletin, New York, February, 1955). The State Sword (das Lehnenschwert) of Maximilian I in the Imperial Treasury at Vienna (inv. no. XIV.4) is dated 1496 and signed 'Hanns von Hall'. B. Thomas (Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1963, pp. 41-62) lists a number of additional weapons attributed to Hans Sumersperger of Hall, which do not include the knives and their présentoir in the Museo Correr, Venice. They include the so-called 'Hunting Sword' of Maximilian I in Vienna (inv. no. D11); a hand-and-half sword in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, (no. G58); a 'Landsknecht' sword formerly at Karlsruhe (no. G59); the ceremonial sword of Hans Siebenhirter as Master of the Order of St. George, dated 1499 (Landesmuseum für Karnten, Klagenfurt); a two-handed sword formerly at Ambras, now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (no. W872); a ceremonial sword in the National Museum, Copenhagen (no. 4580; Thomas, Vaabenhistoriske Aarbøger, 6 b-c, 1950/1, pp. 105-84); a sword-blade in the Bargello, Florence (Thomas and Boccia, Österreichische Florenzhilfe, Historische Prunkwaffen, 1970, p. 48, pI. 6); a knife blade in the collection of John Hunt, found in the Thames, which Thomas suggests might have been a present to Henry VIII from Maximilian I; and a five-piece table garniture in its case, at Stift Kremsmünster, Upper Austria.

*

Marks/Inscriptions

Inscription: 'BON · FRED · VM · DICH' Maker's mark: Form of an arrow Stamped

[peashooter85]

Gothic style sword crafted by Hans Sumersperger of Tyrol, Austria, circa 1490-1500.

from The Worcester Art Museum

[worldhistoryfacts]

A serving knife made by Hans Sumersperger, the knife-maker for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, ca. 1500. The handles are made with brass, bone, walnut, and mother-of-pearl.

{WHF} {HTE} {Medium}

[fab-bladesmith]

A so-called Hunting Sword, in the style of Hans Sumersperger (late XVth century).

Made after a well- known model in the Worcester museum, but drawing inspiration from other famous examples, notably the gorgeous Messer of Maximilian on display at the Viennese Armouries (Accessing Number D 11).

Spring Steel blade, single edge save for the last third near the point, with a fuller running along the back on each side. The forged and fileworked cross was given finials shaped like lions - very much XVth century style ones, that is. Customer wanted it fire-blued. The pommel is brass, chiseled with custom inscriptions and silver plated and patinated. Grip is horn and bone, with fileworked decorative steel nails.

OAL 1124 mm, with a 933 mm blade (38 mm wide). Weight is 1190 g, and PoB is 13 cm from cross.

The Worcester model which served as the main basis for this piece is an intriguing one ; the pommel seems to be a copy of the Viennese Messer, imitating the barely decypherable prayers to the Virgin Mary and the beast-shaped quillon finials. But while on the Viennese Messer the cross is a regular "glorified" bolster, put in place from the blade end, the Worcester cross could only have been inserted from the tang end ; plus, it doesn't show the scale tang construction of neither the Viennese knife nor the NY Met example (Accessing Number 29.158.704), questioning the sense of the nails on the grip. Furthermore, there is no nail joining the cross to the blade....

Still, it was a very interesting piece to make, most challenging to my skills, and a learning experience.

[hunlarpfag]

Another high-end messer from Lansdsknecht Emporium (mostly Airton Péter Szabó to be specific): It's been a while since is posted about this blade and it's finally finished. I made this piece for Daniel Jaquet as the prize for his Lifetime Achievement HEMA scholar award. It was my longest project so far and I lost count of the hours I spent with research, experimenting and finishing the messer. The set consist of a type m5b messer, two knives and an awl in a scabbard with additional sheaths mounted on it for the cutlery. Ádám was kind enough to rough grind the blade and to forge out the byknives for me, so I could finish the grinding and start hilting them. My plan was to make a messer that would date around 1520-1540. Keeping that in mind I based the design of the quillions around 16th century messer from Rothenburg. After considering my options for the nagel I came to the conclusion that a N2C shaped one would suit aesthetically the best the hand filed writhen cross. This was the second nagel I made with such a mosaic and it became a passion of mine ever since then. The design for this one is taken from a surviving original made in the workshop of Hans Sumersperger. For the grip, my choice of material was locally sourced boxwood. I was quite surprised that the branch I chose had a nice purplish tint in the hearth of the wood next to the bright yellow of the rest of the grain. I fixed the grip slabs in place using 0.5mm thick hand rolled tubular rivets. I fitted the hilt a distinct beak shaped, form CC1 pommel (according the latest published version of the Elmslie typology)  For the scabbard I wanted to keep it as historical as possible. It's lined with wool and made out of layers of 0.6mm thick larch veneers so it follows the cross sectional geometry of the blade, giving a perfect fit. When I finished the filing of the core I covered it with linen and attached the leather sheaths for the cutlery. For the cover I used vegetable tanned goatskin that I sewed on the backside. As for the decoration I chose an early 16th century southern German border design. Finally I ebonized the scabbard with iron acetate and added a crimson hand-woven cord to the back for suspension. It was my first time using exclusively bone glue for a project and it was a rather steep learning curve. It was hard to keep everything in place with a heat sensitive glue that has seconds of drying time. For later projects I'll switch to hide glue since it's more tacky and has better strength after drying.  The byknives and the awl are made of Silver steel and shaped in distinctly 16th century fashion with integrated bolsters. Each of them has a CC1 formed pommel and hilted with the same boxwood as I used for the blade. I learned a lot through working on this messer. File work, mosaic pins, fitting, scabbard making. I consider such projects important part of a craftsman's life, I wanted to test my limits and by doing so I exceeded them. I'm still far away from the level of craftsmanship of the old masters, but I consider this blade as an important waypoint. I hope it will serve it's owner well. Lastly some stats: oal: 887mm bl: 710mm pob: 102mm weight: 760g

[generalcatchopshop]

A serving knife made by Hans Sumersperger, the knife-maker for...

A serving knife made by Hans Sumersperger, the knife-maker for…

A serving knife made by Hans Sumersperger, the knife-maker for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, ca. 1500. The handles are made with brass, bone, walnut, and mother-of-pearl. {WHF} {HTE} {Medium}

[the-met-art]

Hunting Knife by Hans Sumersperger via Arms and Armor

Medium: Steel, copper alloy, wood, bone, mother-of-pearl

Rogers Fund, 1904 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/21962

[kultofathena]

Ádám Bodorics – Ebony Grip Bauernwehr with Totentanz Motif Scabbard

This custom crafted Bauernwehr by specialist bladesmith Ádám Bodorics matches an elegant, but powerful-striking Bauernwehr fighting dagger with a marvelously crafted scabbard with hand tooled and handpainted Totentanz motif. The thick-spined dagger is quite robust and rigid and is well-tempered and sharpened and comes with plenty of mass to power it decisively through its target and a clipped tip point gives it impressive puncture ability as well. The grip has a bolster, pommel and nagel of steel and two grip halves of finely carved and smoothed ebony which are riveted directly to the thick blade tang which is tapered for improved overall balance. The included wood-core scabbard is bound in wood and meticulously hand tooled to create a complete package that is a fine custom piece to complete your Landsknecht kit. Below are Ádám’s own thoughts on his custom creation:

Bauernwehrs, the dagger-sized relatives of Messers, took a variety of forms utilizing several different construction methods. This piece would fit in best at the turning point of the 15th and 16th centuries. The slightly curved blade is forged and ground from 80crv2 high-carbon steel, heat-treated to 54-56 HrC. There’s a shallow and relatively narrow fuller ground into both sides along the spine, terminating under the bolsters as is customary in the period. There’s just enough distal taper in the blade to make it lively without allowing the pommel to make it too hilt-heavy. The bolsters are decorated with filework. The strong change in cross-section between the “guard” and the body of the bolsters is a common feature on originals and can be seen on protokatzbalgers, Messers and Bauernwehrs alike.

The edge of the Nagel is filed in a pattern that I came up with myself. The idea was to create something unprecedented to my current knowledge, yet make it fit the overall aesthetics. The pommel is affixed by silver solder onto the heavily tapering tang. The shape is categorized as type CC2 in the Elmslie-typology and is defined by the bottom being made up of multiple curves and lines as opposed to CC1 pommels, where it’s a single curve. Originals of this type of pommel exhibit huge variance from quite simple and rounded forms all the way to the highly sculptural works of Hans Sumersperger. This version falls in the middle of the spectrum.

The grip panels are Gabon ebony and are affixed by gluing and tubular rivets peened in the fuller running along the entire hilt. The scabbard has a wooden core and a luxuriously decorated leather wrap. The Totentanz motif is my own design, and so are the vines and flowers but all take inspiration from illustration and codex marginalia from the 15th-16th centuries. There are raised leather channels in the back for a leather thong for vertical carry on a belt.

[kultofathena]

Below are Ádám’s own thoughts on his one of a kind custom creation:

Bauernwehrs, the dagger-sized relatives of Messers, took a variety of forms utilizing several different construction methods. This piece would fit in best at the turning point of the 15th and 16th centuries. The slightly curved blade is forged and ground from 80crv2 high-carbon steel, heat-treated to 54-56 HrC. There’s a shallow and relatively narrow fuller ground into both sides along the spine, terminating under the bolsters as is customary in the period. There’s just enough distal taper in the blade to make it lively without allowing the pommel to make it too hilt-heavy. The bolsters are decorated with filework. The strong change in cross-section between the “guard” and the body of the bolsters is a common feature on originals and can be seen on protokatzbalgers, Messers and Bauernwehrs alike.

The edge of the Nagel is filed in a pattern that I came up with myself. The idea was to create something unprecedented to my current knowledge, yet make it fit the overall aesthetics. The pommel is affixed by silver solder onto the heavily tapering tang. The shape is categorized as type CC2 in the Elmslie-typology and is defined by the bottom being made up of multiple curves and lines as opposed to CC1 pommels, where it’s a single curve. Originals of this type of pommel exhibit huge variance from quite simple and rounded forms all the way to the highly sculptural works of Hans Sumersperger. This version falls in the middle of the spectrum.

The grip panels are Gabon ebony and are affixed by gluing and tubular rivets peened in the fuller running along the entire hilt. The scabbard has a wooden core and a luxuriously decorated leather wrap. The Totentanz motif is my own design, and so are the vines and flowers but all take inspiration from illustration and codex marginalia from the 15th-16th centuries. There are raised leather channels in the back for a leather thong for vertical carry on a belt.

Available HERE.

[erikacousland]

Hans Sumersperger | Hunting Knife | Austrian, Hall | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hunting Knife ca. 1500

Hans Sumersperger Austrian

Artwork Details Title: Hunting Knife Bladesmith: Hans Sumersperger (Austrian, Hall, active 1492–1498) Date: ca. 1500 Geography: Hall, Tyrol Culture: Austrian, Hall Medium: Steel, copper alloy, wood, bone, mother-of-pearl Dimensions: L. 18 5/8 in. (47.29 cm); W. 2 1/2 in. (6.35 cm) Classification: Knives

The grip is inlaid with the coat of arms of Austria in carved mother-of-pearl; the blade bears the mark of Hans Sumersperger, court knifesmith to Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519). Such knives formed part of a group of implements that were used to prepare freshly killed game, including bear, wild boar, and deer, after a hunt.

[the-met-art]

Hunting Sword by Hans Sumersperger via Arms and Armor

Medium: Steel, copper alloy, horn, bone

Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/23342