Rare sword maker?

[wolfcastle]

Hi. Is Paul Seilheimer a common maker of Heer panther heads? For that matter, how common are panther heads? I see a ton of doves and lions, not many panthers. Is there a reason for this? Thanks!

[Frogprince]

Hi. Is Paul Seilheimer a common maker of Heer panther heads? For that matter, how common are panther heads? I see a ton of doves and lions, not many panthers. Is there a reason for this? Thanks!

In Imperial era catalogs Lionheads are listed as such with maybe a Pantherhead attribute if that model had one. I cannot speak to all TR era catalogs, but they don't seem to address them as such. Lionheads in general for some early swords very often having very simplified heads (presumably) so that they do not impact their fighting capabilities that carried forward to the Imperial era. Some full bodied Imperial era Lionheads would put to shame any of the TR era swords that I've seen to date. So after some long discussions over time with others who specialize in the TR era, a consensus was reached that the more simplified Lionheads that had been identified as Pantherheads were still Lionheads. That said, the TR catalogs I've looked have a mixture of both the simpllified and full bodied types in them. (And I'm always looking for new information and very open to changing my point of view.) FP

[wolfcastle]

So, a panther head is technically a jawless lionshead?

[Frogprince]

So, a panther head is technically a jawless lionshead?

A jawless Lion's head was not uncommon with some early period swords and later. But that for me is not the deciding factor. Instead it's the male Lion's mane which can be fairly large on some swords, or much smaller, and/or stylized depending on the maker. Versus Panthers that do not have a mane. Imperial era German catalogs using both the terms Löwenkopf and Parderkopf (where appropriate). FP

[DALE ELLIS]

From my experience Paul Seilheimer seems to be a fairly common maker of Heer panther heads. Looking at Wittmann's list he states they are rare but I would think that its just another way of squeezing a few more dollars out of a buyer. I believe that the term panther head is actually just a name and all are really just lion heads. Some with manes and some with out. The so called panther heads do seem to be a little more common in the Third Reich period which could have something to do with changes in artistic taste.

[wolfcastle]

Thanks guys