Natalie Van Dam

Another sword that was very interesting to me was a sword that had a very masonic theme. The reason this sword was so interesting to me was because it was so elaborately designed and decorated. It was clearly a sword meant for ceremonial purpose only though due to the amount of effort that went into decorating it. No design on this sword was simple. It had scenes of knights on horses in front of buildings and in fields, to elaborate images of crowns and crosses and shields. I think the part of these designs that I found the most interesting, was the amount of time and effort that would have gone into the design and their placing upon the sword. Every single design on this sword was etched or carved into its surface. This particular sword was owned by an Edwin Matthew Schafer, however we are unsure if it was the Senior or the Junior as the records we have do not give us any clues to this. It is possible though that this was an item that could have been owned by both of them, being passed down from father to son.

Overall, I am enjoying my time interning here. I have gotten to work on all types of items, from swords and guns, to souvenir spoons and trunks. This is a wonderful learning experience for me and I can't believe that I've already been here for two weeks now.