I'm working on prepping my class for tomorrow and doing other stuff this morning, but on the advice of a #Swordgate fan on Facebook, I just watched part of J. Hutton Pulitzer's latest video appearance (alternative link) It may be my last, as I presume he'll now block me from viewing them if there's a way to do that (if you didn't follow developments over the weekend, you might be interested in this post and this one about some of his websites becoming inaccessible).
Amid the usual baloney (some of which was clearly directed at me, though he didn't mention me by name), Pulitzer provides a few details relevant to his information about and interpretation of the "Roman sword" that he claims will necessitate a "re-writing" of history. I still haven't seen the actual sword that he has seen, of course, but I have one made from the same mold sitting in my office right now (the California sword). As shown by a hilt-to-hilt comparison, the four known brass/bronze swords floating around out there were clearly all cast from the same mold (or copied from one another). The great thing about the California sword is that it preserves details not visible on the Nova Scotia sword (or any of the other ones I've seen). This means we can look at the California sword and evaluate Pulitzer's interpretation of the figure on the Nova Scotia sword.
If you didn't get it from the title of this post, he's wrong on just about every count. It's laughable.
I've only got time to talk about a few of these today. I'll call them Points 1, 2, and 3.
Amid the usual baloney (some of which was clearly directed at me, though he didn't mention me by name), Pulitzer provides a few details relevant to his information about and interpretation of the "Roman sword" that he claims will necessitate a "re-writing" of history. I still haven't seen the actual sword that he has seen, of course, but I have one made from the same mold sitting in my office right now (the California sword). As shown by a hilt-to-hilt comparison, the four known brass/bronze swords floating around out there were clearly all cast from the same mold (or copied from one another). The great thing about the California sword is that it preserves details not visible on the Nova Scotia sword (or any of the other ones I've seen). This means we can look at the California sword and evaluate Pulitzer's interpretation of the figure on the Nova Scotia sword.
If you didn't get it from the title of this post, he's wrong on just about every count. It's laughable.
I've only got time to talk about a few of these today. I'll call them Points 1, 2, and 3.
Point 1: Pulitzer claims that gold is present on the Hercules' knees on the Nova Scotia sword. I would bet big money all that he's looking at is some shiny brass. The knees are among the highest spots of the hilt, and they would experience the most wear (along with Hercules' beard and the lion skin framing his face) through handling. The little-worn California sword preserves more detail in the lion claws than is visible on the knees of the Nova Scotia sword, consistent with the idea that those high spots have been well worn. I'd bet that all we're seeing is polished brass, not gold. I thought that the second I saw the image of the sword on Day 1 of Swordgate, and I still think it's probably true. What proof does Pulitzer have that those shiny spots are gold? I guess it would be embarrassing for the Commander of the world's best "professional treasure hunting" team to misidentify brass as gold, so I certainly hope he didn't just do that. That would be a real bummer for such a person's credibility, it seems.
Point 2: A sea shell? Pulitzer claims that the design between Hercules' legs represents a sea shell that symbolizes the Atlantic. I suppose it could be a shell - who knows? It seems more likely to me that it's just a floral design to fill the space. I'm not expert in Victorian design, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to such a motif on old wallpaper. Hell, it's got nine "branches" - maybe it's a symbol of the hydra. Update (1/11/2016): An alert reader just emailed me to explain that the the design is known as a "palmette" or "anthemion."
Point 2: A sea shell? Pulitzer claims that the design between Hercules' legs represents a sea shell that symbolizes the Atlantic. I suppose it could be a shell - who knows? It seems more likely to me that it's just a floral design to fill the space. I'm not expert in Victorian design, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to such a motif on old wallpaper. Hell, it's got nine "branches" - maybe it's a symbol of the hydra. Update (1/11/2016): An alert reader just emailed me to explain that the the design is known as a "palmette" or "anthemion."
Point 3. Pulitzer says that the sword depicts Hercules standing astride the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar, gateway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic). He says all the bumps are "rocks" with the waters of the Atlantic flowing between Hercules' legs. He's way off on this one. What Hercules is actually standing on is a pair of animal figures: two animals facing outward with heads turned back toward Hercules, perhaps biting at his feet. Based on the similarity between the "folds" on the heads of these animals and how the mane is depicted in the lion skin that Hercules is wearing, I'm guessing these are lions. The animals also have a lion-like tuft of hair at the ends of their tails, which I'm guessing that Pulitzer mistook as part of his "sea shell."
That's all I've got time for right now. I'll be scanning the California sword today as I work on other things -- I think it will have a lot more to tell us.
Pulitzer would have been wise, I think, to purchase one of the modern Design Toscano swords before giving us his interpretation of the Nova Scotia sword. Even the Design Toscano sword, as crude a cast as it is, makes it evident that Pulitzer's claims about what is represented on these swords are a joke.
That's all I've got time for right now. I'll be scanning the California sword today as I work on other things -- I think it will have a lot more to tell us.
Pulitzer would have been wise, I think, to purchase one of the modern Design Toscano swords before giving us his interpretation of the Nova Scotia sword. Even the Design Toscano sword, as crude a cast as it is, makes it evident that Pulitzer's claims about what is represented on these swords are a joke.
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