Maybe you thought you'd never live to see the documentation of Fake Hercules Sword Number 24. Congratulations: you made it.
The 24th sword comes to us from Matt Sea, who emailed me about his sword a couple of days ago. He says he acquired the sword in 1998 during a family visit to Pompeii. The sword was purchased from a roadside vendor. Sea's parents "remember the vendor we bought it from had various swords, armor, and things like that. The vendor was also near where our tour bus dropped us off near the entrance of Pompeii." Matt says he sanded the patina from parts of the sword when he was young.
Here are some photos:
The 24th sword comes to us from Matt Sea, who emailed me about his sword a couple of days ago. He says he acquired the sword in 1998 during a family visit to Pompeii. The sword was purchased from a roadside vendor. Sea's parents "remember the vendor we bought it from had various swords, armor, and things like that. The vendor was also near where our tour bus dropped us off near the entrance of Pompeii." Matt says he sanded the patina from parts of the sword when he was young.
Here are some photos:
Sword 24: front.
Sword 24: front of hilt.
Sword 24: back of hilt.
Sword 24: front of blade.
Sword 24: detail of front of blade.
In the last image of the front of the blade (immediately above), a vaguely Texas-shaped depression is visible. I made an illustration showing the comparable areas of the other swords that we've classified as "Type CS." The same depression is clearly visible on the Cvet sword (Sword 12). I'm pretty sure I can see it in the photo of Sword 13 (Alejandro), and it's possibly (barely) discernible on Sword 10 (Florida eBay). I can't see it on Sword 15 (Frioacero).
Comparison of proximal blades of swords classified as "Type CS."
What does this mean? If that Texas-shaped depression -- clearly visible on the Sea and Cvet swords -- isn't present on some of the other swords we're calling CS, we're going to have to subdivide.
I'm hoping to get a chance to examine Sword 24 firsthand. It will be the first CS I've been able to look at up close. If my current chronological model is correct, the metrics of the Hercules figure on Sword 24 should fall somewhere between those of the Italian eBay (Type J) sword and the Design Toscano sword.
I'm hoping to get a chance to examine Sword 24 firsthand. It will be the first CS I've been able to look at up close. If my current chronological model is correct, the metrics of the Hercules figure on Sword 24 should fall somewhere between those of the Italian eBay (Type J) sword and the Design Toscano sword.
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