I have, for as long as I can remember had an obsession with weapons, from swords, bows and crossbows to firearms. I am fortunate enough to live in a country that still allows the ownership of live historic firearms. So for the last 30 years have been collecting firearms from WWII, plus the odd one that interested me. This interest slowly declined as more time got spent with children than at the range. Coupled with the extra security needed to own functioning machineguns I just wasn’t able to enjoy them like I used to.
With none of my children showing an interest in shooting, it got to the point that months would pass, that they stayed locked away, out of view. Which is in my opinion no way to treat historic artifacts, so it was time to pass them on to someone that could enjoy them like I used to.
So with the difficult decision made, my wandering eyes turned to an other interest; swords. On a whim I purchased in March a Dutch m1912 officers sword and on researching it further, another Dutch sword, a m1852 Jagers Officer caught my eye. Then there were three Napoleonic era Dutch sabres, recently released from the Dutch National Army Museum were added..
This presented the problem of how to display them all. Wanting to avoid filling the walls with holes as I added more I settled to mount them on a board that I could then hang up. A bit of brain storming and a weekend of trips to the hardware store and here is the finished product. 2000mm wide 1200mm tall 12mm thick plywood backed with blue canvas, using the PC2378 Paul Chen Sword Hanger Hooks to mount the swords. The display takes up the entire wall of the stair well in leading to the upstairs bedroom giving me a smile every day I head downstairs.
