Tomas Aialla Broadsword

A beautiful and long 'Tomas Aialla' blade mounted on an intricately designed Walloon-style hilt. Most likely early 18th century, rather than 17th.

Tomas de Ayala was a leading Toledo bladesmith, but most blades bearing his name cannot have come from his hand. His is one of those names frequently made use of as a kind of trade label, indicative of a certain type of blade, rather than with any intention to deceive. It was being applied to blades as late as the 18th century.