in excavated condition, with sharply tapering straight double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section with a sharp point (chips), inlaid in latten with the running wolf of Passau on each face and a further mark on one face only at the forte, iron hilt comprising a pair of quillons of circular section, swelling slightly at the centre and at the terminals, the latter each engraved with a cross, tall faceted pear-shaped pommel, and in characteristic black patinated largely stable condition throughout, 103.2 cm blade, 130.5 cm overall

Provenance

Christie's, London, 1st August 1979, lot 24

Howard M. Curtis

Literature

Oakeshott, Ewart, A River-Find of 15th Century Swords, in, Stuber, Karl and Wetter, Hans, Blankwaffen, 1982, pp. 17-32, sword no. 14.

Oakeshott, Ewart, Records of the Medieval Sword, Bury St Edmonds, 1991, p. 143, no. 3 (incorrectly attributed to the collection of the Royal Armouries, H. M. Tower of London).

Oakeshott Ewart, The Swords of Castillon, in, The Tenth Park Lane Arms Fair, 1993, pp. 7-16, illus. 8.

Thomas, Clive, Additional Notes on the Swords of Castillon, in, The Park Lane Arms Fair, 2012, p. 60, no. 7.

This sword forms a sub-group within the so-called ‘group B’ of swords found near the site of the last battle of the 100 Years War, fought near Castillon in Gascony in 1453. This group is characterised by so-called ‘fishtail’ or ‘scent stopper’ pommels. The present sword is the largest of the group and one of only two swords with this distinctive form of pommel.