#smallsword

[armthearmour]

A beautifully pierced and etched Smallsword with a broad blade,

OaL: 40.5 in/102.8 cm

Blade Length: 34.5 in/87.6 cm

Width: 4 in/10.2 cm

Depth: 3.75 in/9.5 cm

Weight: 1.3 lbs/595.3 g

British, 17th century, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[artschoolglasses]

Smallsword, known as a Mourning Sword, British, ca 1790

From the Met Museum

[mockingnerd]

Another one for the HEMA folks, or SCA or LARP or other collections of capital letters! It is available here if you are inclined to wear clothes or stick things on other things

If my clubmates would stop saying banger things like this I would be able to stop drawing piles of weapons and twisty banners. But for now it's a pretty fun challenge for my art so I'll allow it

[blue-and-gilt]

Late 18th Century European smallsword with a chased and pierced steel hilt. The guard is a symmetrical in the 'Pas d'ane' style and decorated with military trophies indicating that this might have belonged to a military officer. The grip is square and bound with alternating copper ribbon and twisted wire. Originally this would most likely been silver plated. 

The hollow ground trefoil blade is by Johann and Clemens Boegel of Solingen and maked with their I.C.B trademark and other motifs typical of the time. 

The term 'Pas d'ane' comes from French and translates as 'donkey's foot' after the shape of the donkey sole. Commentators on smallswords often misidentify the small loops between the guard and the knucklebow and quillon as the 'pas d'ane' when the correct term for them is annulets. 

On Western European smallswords the annulets are a decorative hang over from earlier fencing styles when they were larger to allow the fencers' finger over the crossguard.

[theglintofyourblade]

Spanish Smallsword | ca. 1790-1800 | Solingen, Germany | Met Museum

[awallofswords]

18th Century gilt and gem encrusted single ring smallsword. One side of the blade is inscribed in French “Don’t draw me without reason” while the other reads “Sheathe me with honour”

From the Museums of the Moscow Kremlin.

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the smallsword.

This sword is specifically designed for dueling. Everything about it is designed to be incredibly lightweight, lightning fast, and exceedingly pointy, even more so than the rapier it evolved from. The blade is often left without any cutting edge at all, because the blade is just too light; the entire point of this blade is just that, the point. The smallsword is used exclusively for thrusting, and since it would have been used almost exclusively against other smallswords, combat with this weapon is very quick and very subtle. The hilts were often ornate, and it was worn by European nobility during its period of popularity, from the mid-17th to late 18th centuries.

[flashbic]

L'angle de la photo est pas extra mais!!!!!!

Petite pause de dessin pour ce soir, le temps que ceci guérisse un peu! L'artiste est Guillaume Harven, ici sur instagram, et il a fait un travail absolument génial! J'avais envoyé plusieurs images pour servir d'inspiration, et finalement il s'est surtout tourné vers cette commission faites par @eisly

[ourladyofeightswords]

I’m making notes for club policies (indoctrinating people into small sword because actually it’s based) and started writing “indoctrinate into SS cult” and then had to sit there for a moment and realize *why* that phrasing specifically is, indeed, not how to go about that.

[commiepinkofag]

Unicorn smallsword hilt, Dutch, ca. 1650

[conrad-2572]

Hey people of tumblr, I come to you bearing a very neat piece of character design!

If you wanna think of a cool fighting style/weapon for your OC or next character, etc, take this:

RAPIER/SMALL SWORD/SABER DUELING

Holy mother of

Beautiful, artful FUCK,

Is this so goddamn interesting.

Instantly add finesse to anything your character does! Reason????? Pokey metal stick. Duh.

Slashy metal sticks, for saber.

While it may not be "HiStoRicAllY AcCrEatE", feel free to make your character's fighting style more flowy with this weapon type.

Brutality exists in rapier as well, so if you need to get bloody, guess what? You can do that!

In summary? Rapiers are bitchin'.

[armthearmour]

A flamberged Smallsword with a delicately pierced hilt,

OaL: 39.5 in/100.25 cm

Blade Length: 32.1 in/81.5 cm

England, ca. 1670-1787, housed with the Royal Collection Trust.

[artschoolglasses]

Smallsword with scabbard, British, hallmarked 1798-99

From the Met Museum

[thepiedsniper]

I've already weighed in on this previously, but I am BEGGING people in the notes to consider that there might be a difference between flexibility and weakness.

Yes, most lighter swords require some degree of movement in your wrist. But if your wrist is limp and lacking in control then you are going to be ineffectual at best and lose your sword at worst. You have to actively use all of your arm muscles to actually manipulate a sword correctly because it takes a lot of strength and effort to make your wrist movements look subtle and effortless.

Is gay wrist an advantage or disadvantage in sword fighting technique time-sensitive

[blue-and-gilt]

Photos of the sword display I had at last weekends excellent Auckland Blade and Knife show.

Was great to see meet with New Zealand's very talented knife makers showing off their work. Truly inspiring works of art.

For my display I opted to have a selection from the collection that covered a broad range instead of focusing on the one topic.

It was also my first use of the new boards I made after the last show. These are on their own stands giving me more table space.

Despite being a bit rough about the edges (remember folks, measure twice, cut once 🤣) they worked well. The next challenge is to improve on how the swords are mounted. Cable ties work great, but they're fiddly to pass through the cloth backing while trying to hold up a sword at the same time.

My thanks to The Auckland Blade Show for organising such a great event and for allowing me to participate. Shows like these are key to showing people just what is available and possible.