Detailed Images of the Frioacero Sword (Fake Hercules Sword 15)

8/26/2016

Pablo Benavente obtained these great images of the Friocero Sword (Sword 15) from the sword's owner. There are a lot of things to look at here in comparison to the other swords. Unfortunately for me, I don't have time to do a close inspection right now. I thought the best thing to do would be to just make the images available so that those of you out there in Swordgate land can have a look. Enjoy!

Sword 15: front.

Sword 15: back.

Length of Sword 15.

Sword 15: front of hilt.

Sword 15: back of hilt.

Sword 15: casting anomaly on side of head.

Sword 15: left side of hilt.

Sword 15: right side of hilt.

Sword 15: blade width.

Sword 15: front of blade.

Sword 15: back of blade.

Sword 15: weight in pounds.

12 Comments

Killbuck

8/26/2016 10:55:49 am

The anomaly appears to be a casting bubble, as I'm sure you've guessed.

The finishing is crude to say the least. The marks from the grinding wheels- not attempt to fancy it up. But as we hear this was a tourist piece, perhaps no real surprise.

Pablo

8/26/2016 11:06:16 am

Do you mean that hole in the upper back?

Peter Geuzen

8/26/2016 12:42:50 pm

The hole is where he got shot by a crossbow bolt. :)

Peter Geuzen

8/26/2016 01:27:56 pm

This is just a bit longer than the other CS examples. There is some pretty aggressive grinding on the hilt. It's in the same zone for casting detail as the Js but there are a couple cruder Js I would say.

I don't recall if this has been discussed before but are we assuming these things are cast and then submitted immediately to a patina treatment, and nothing else? I wonder if there was another stage of chemical or acid bath that would help explain there being so much variation in the detailing of features. Yes we hypothesize a reduction in mold quality over time, but the variation in detail might be more than just this. I would expect the quality control of an acid treatment to vary widely given the context of trying to make it look ancient.

Jim

8/26/2016 01:37:42 pm

I may be wrong, but it seems the seams may have been ground off, or been smoothed off, both before and after the aging\patina process.

Jim

8/26/2016 01:39:25 pm

As in, some parts before, some parts after.

Peter Geuzen

8/26/2016 02:38:57 pm

High points may be worn down or off, especially if the patina was thin, plus the patina may not have been put on thoroughly, at whatever stage or stages. They may have never done it the same way twice, or different workers did it different ways at different times, etc. The lack of quality control adds to the challenge of deciphering these things.

Only Me

8/27/2016 05:46:44 am

It's been a while since I last looked at the FHS database, but this particular sword is weird. In some places, it seems to have more detail. In other places, the casting is just terrible.

Jonathan E. Feinstein

8/29/2016 08:12:05 am

I tend to agree. I compared details in the pictures to my Design Toscano knock-off (it was on sale and I could not resist).

The Sword 15 lion skin is slightly better detailed than on the DT sword although Hercules thumbs on the front seem to be slightly better on the DT piece The lions ot Herc's feet are slightly better on Sword 15.
So I would estimate that Sword 15 represents a cast earlier than the one DT used as a master, but maybe not very much earlier.

The blade is much longer on Sword 15 than on any DT sword, but then the DT Swords, I think, are the shortest examples at about 17" in length so it is possible DT, just made theirs intentionally short to save production costs.

The grind marks on the sides of the figure are slightly different between the two, but I find it interesting they are of the same nature. A very tentative hypothesis of mine is that DT's master was one of the later brass copies, and I would guess that that master was made in the same shop at Sword 15. The mold marks from the sword DT used as a master were sloppily ground off with what seems like a grinding wheel of the same coarseness on both pieces. It is possible any number of shops might have purchased the same standard greinding wheel, of course, but how many different shoips produced the Fake Hercules Swords?

Well, there's my 2 cents' worth

David L Ulrich

9/22/2016 08:32:47 am

pic #1 Sword 15: front. --- 45+ length
pic #2 Sword 15: back. --- 45+ length

pic #3 Length of Sword 15. --- 43 length

why the difference....conclusion -- used difference swords ??? for same identification number....and then you posted this on the web for anybody who can read a tape measure......

Carl Feagans link

12/1/2016 10:05:57 am

This is a problem of topography of the artifact itself and placement of the tape measure. In the first two photos, the tape is flat on the table. On the 3rd photo, the tape is elevated by the figure on the hilt. Combined with the camera angle and several millimeters of play with the tip, you have the perception that 2 cm is removed.

This is one of the two reasons i never place a rule on an artifact. The other is that it obscures details.

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Detailed Images of the Frioacero Sword (Fake Hercules Sword 15)

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