Well Past Due
Posted: 03/03/20 (15:44pm)At least one person reads my blog and he emailed me today to ask why I hadn’t written for so long? The answer is the same as always – I am very busy. I mean to write, I plan to write. I even tell myself which day I am going to do it on. But then something comes up. And so the story goes.
But he is right. My next blog is way past due.
I was thinking about what to tell you? What would be of interest to you?
I could tell you about the restorations I have been doing for a local Masonic Lodge. But then they are rather secretive (or so I believe) and might not appreciate their business being discussed.
I have told you about auctions I have attended several times in the past and despite my blogs being few and far between, I wouldn’t want to bore you by going over the same ground.
So, what should I tell you?
Budapest has a fantastic museum. It is one of the best I have visited anywhere. Sue and I spent Christmas and New Year in Hungary’s beautiful capital city and about six hours of it in the National museum.
I totally lucked out because at the time of our visit they had an amazing exhibition called “Steel and Heart: 1000 Years of Weaponry.” It was an incredible display of swords and side arms mainly from the Ottoman and Austro Hungarian Empires.
I walked through the rooms drooling! I tried taking some photos but was very soon jumped on by one of the ever present and watchful members of staff, who helpfully pointed out that if I wanted to pay for a permit I could take as many photos as I wished.
Needless to say, I rushed back to the entrance lobby and joined the throng at the ticket office. Ten minutes later, proudly displaying my newly purchased permit, I re-entered the exhibition and, phone in hand, proceeded to photograph just about everything – much to the security staff’s amusement.
I can’t possibly share with you all the photos I took, but here are some of my favourite swords in the exhibition – Ottoman Empire Killij.
I don’t know how long this particular exhibition will be on but if you are in Budapest, I whole heartedly recommend a visit to the museum. As well as the additional exhibitions, their regular exhibits include a couple of rooms full of incredibly well preserved Bronze Age and Iron Age weaponry as well as several rooms of all things Roman. In fact, the Roman exhibits were among my favourites – “Terrific race the Romans!”
And what, you might ask, was the very patient and long suffering Sue doing while I was running around like a kid in a sweet shop?
So now I have told you about a marvellous exhibition in Budapest and shown you a few pictures of some items we will never get to handle let alone own, I will leave you with a couple of photos of swords that I have just bought and which one day could be yours…
Honourable East India Company Naval Officer's Sword with Prosser blade circa 1829.
1796 light Cavalry officer's sabre by Thomas Gill circa 1800.
