This appealing pair of weapons is inspired by the Royal Armouries IX.2574, a beautifully preserved extant example of a 16th-century basket-hilted sword.
With its straight, single-edge blade and decorative carving to the pommel and hilt, it is fetching and functional in equal measure. Chris formed the guards and pommels using historical techniques, such as splitting the saltires from a single bar and brazing the two hemispheres of the pommel together.
The sword is named for the pomegranate - both a reference to the shape of the pommel and to the fruit's prevalence in 16th-century royal designs. Like the Rosanglica, it offers a fine compromise between comprehensive hand coverage and nimble weighting, its single-edge blade offering a further degree of blade presence.
With a scaled-down version of the sword's pommel and matching carvings to the saltire and quillon terminals, the dagger marries the aesthetics of the sword with the protective durability of our alehouse daggers. It is usable both as a single weapon in its own right, and as a fitting main gauche for the sword.
Please see our pricing structure for an idea of what a similar sword would cost.
∴ Specs ∴
Sword:
Weight: 1200g
Total length: 107cm
Blade length: 91.5cm
Blade width: 3.5cm
Blade stock: 6mm
Grip length: 9cm
Grip and pommel length: 13.5cm
Quillon span: 20cm
Point of Balance: 11cm
Right-handed
2mm edges
Fencing flex
Swollen tip
Dagger:
Weight: 620g
Total length: 55cm
Blade length: 41cm
Blade width: 3.5cm
Blade stock: 6mm
Grip length: 9.5cm
Grip and pommel length: 12.5cm
Quillon span: 19.5cm
Point of Balance: at the cross
Ambidextrous
2mm edges
Swollen tip
∴ Notes ∴
The hand-forged and heat-treated hilts of both sword and dagger are blackened to a matte finish. The delicately carved pommels are made of two hemispheres brazed together. The saltires of both guards feature hand-carved details and the quillon terminals feature flower-bud-style decorations in the style of the original.
The custom-sized oak grips are wrapped with twisted steel wire, with Turk's head knots to the top and bottom. Both sword and dagger are fitted with felt-lined leather liners, offering further protection to the hands.
∴ Gallery ∴
∴ A Fruit of Battle ∴
You press your palm against the familiar globe of the pommel, and try instead to recall the fruit. How you marvelled in the palace garden as the duke plucked a pomegranate from the Queen's own tree, breaking apart the tough skin with his nails to reveal jewel-like innards. The pleasing tartness of those precious seeds, and the strange dryness to its juice - a nectar that would never sate your thirst.
You recall gasping in recognition the first time you glimpsed the same round, ribbed fancies adorning the halls of palace itself - emboidered, gilded and carved. It was the emblem of Granada, the duke explained, and a symbol of Queen Catherine. A symbol of the union between our kingdom and her father's.
Those innocent days of bitter-sweet pips and perusing the royal halls are gone now, you remind yourself. Your hand tightens about the wire grip of your weapon, and you contemplate the cage of black crosses that protects your curled fist. Those seeds were not garnets after all, you think, but drops of ruby rich blood waiting to be spilled. Your queen is gone - banished - a new mistress, and a new faith found in her place.
The sword is all you have left of that simpler time - and the familiar weight of it brings the simplicity of your mission home. You once swore on this blade to protect your Queen - be it heresy or not, you intend to do just that.