Armor, Helmets, Shields, and Related

The Maratha Pata or gauntlet sword is believed to have been used by expert swordsmen and uniquely suited to horsemen. The steel gauntlet covers the hand, wrist, and some of the forearm. The sword is held by employing two mechanisms within the gauntlet - the hand is inserted into the gauntlet past a serpentine floating metal cross-bar, up to the mid-forearm (between the wrist and elbow), then grasping a floating metal pipe surrounding a rigid center cross-bar, the hand making a fist around the floating pipe. The flex of the forearm muscle and the grip of the hand make this fit very snug. Padding would have originally been lining the inner gauntlet and perhaps a glove was also worn. This sword becomes an effective extension of the arm. Blade is quite fexible and it is believed they are like this as to bend when give striking a more solid object, minimizing the possibility of unhorseing the rider wielding the sword.
This Pata most likely dates from the 18th century. Overall length is ~50"; blade length is ~38".
NOTE: No scabbard included with this sword.
Good condition. One rivet is detached on the forward end of the blade seatings or langets. Wear hole in upper section of wrist ~1" x 1/2".

As you might guess, we receive a large amount of requests for identification of various arms and armor. I urge you in advance to peruse the Arms Identification pages on that section of the website; this may save you some money. Many common weapons and related can be found there. If that does not work for you, I will try to help directly, but at a fee. I will also buy your items if you wish to sell after identification. If you decide to sell, I will credit/refund you the total amount of the $10 identification fee, once the item for sale is received in-house and a price agreed upon.
Please note:

• This is the price for the identification of one item. I will supply a basic identification and a basic value (if requested).
• I will not specifically name the variations in a particular model, only the variant model designation. This is a basic service.
• I will need one overall image, generally no larger than a 8x10 desktop type photo in jpg/jpeg format and cropped to the subject matter only. I will not accept any other format or compressed/zipped images. I will ask for additional photos if necessary. E-mail these to Identify; your order number must be included in the subject line.
• Please do not e-mail single image files larger than 250kb, no more than 500kb total for multiple images; I will not open them if they exceed these limits.
• If you E-mail or snail-mail any images to me for use in identification of an item, I reserve the right to use - without further contact - those images on my website, without compensation to you (other than my efforts to assist you, however minimal the result may actually be).
• If you choose to snail-mail images, please make sure you have copies or your originals retained for yourself. We do not return images in any format and they become the property of Arms to Armor - The History Store without compensation to you for any use - past, present, or future.
• I will also need basic dimensions and description of the item being identified. Please add these to the text box in the shopping cart or e-mail as above.
• Be sure to put your order number in the subject field of any e-mails pertaining to the identification request.
• Fee is nonrefundable.
• We will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Once again, this is a very basic service.
• Research materials I have available are quite substantial; however, on some items, information within those materials might be quite sparse.