An Ottoman Sword, Turkey, 16th Century

Philippe Missillier Collection no. 25C

H. Ricketts and P. Missillier, Splendeur des Armes Orientales, Paris: Acte-Expo, 1988, p.27, no.20

The heavy, straight double-edged blade is unusual for Ottoman swords of this period, although several highly luxurious swords of this form have survived in museum collections. A sword in the National Museum of Denmark (inv. no.Eb 19) is fitted with a long straight blade signed by the master swordsmith ‘Hasan’ and designed on Ottoman design principles, including palmettes and a roundel and two cartouches containing calligraphic inscriptions (Kjeld von Folsach et al., Fighting, Hunting, Impressing: Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500-1850, Copenhagen: The David Collection, pp.124-5). On the present sword, the plain blade with no fewer than five fullers suggests it draws inspiration from contemporary Central European blades, such as those produced at Solingen, but its long single edge and false edge indicate it was almost certainly made within the Ottoman empire.

Although the blade is unusual, overall the present sword finds its closest comparison in a sabre in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, fitted with silver-gilt mounts stamped with the tughra of Suleyman the Magnificent (r.1520-66) and first recorded in an inventory of Schloss Ambras dating to 1583 (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, A 1341). It therefore seems likely that the hilt and mounts of the present sword date to the same period, although the blade may be older.