Anyone want to comment on this bizarre blade? Is it a real antique? (it's an eBay link, but it's not my eBay account - no relation to seller)

I'm about the farthest thing in the world from an expert, so take this opinion for what it is: I'm some guy with decent amount of wrought iron in his house, and I've seen a lot of Pawn Stars episodes.

Here is a real sword from that claimed era

Here is another one

And here's a Victorian-era copy that shows real wear on cast metal

Wrought or cast iron can look like that grip with little or no aging, either real or artificial; but it certainly is cast. However, it was not cast with huge amounts of care. Picture 2 shows that the main figure's feet don't quite line up with the things below it, and the decorative element above his head is shifted slightly back in the other direction.

The aging on it is COMPLETELY wrong if it was ever held or used. The raised bits would be rubbed smooth and shiny, rather than just less-aged looking. This pattern is usually true even if it was never used; the raised bits just tend to age differently. The pitting on the blade is way off too; that blade looks almost sand-cast with its pitting (though I doubt it was sand-cast, that would be a horrible blade), whereas a real blade will have an actual pattern of some sort. Look at the picture that shows the decorative head on the blade. I don't see any pitting around the left side of it at all - probably because whoever made the sword didn't want to damage that image by pitting it.

I'm calling it a fake. The biggest evidence comes from two questions: Who would make something like this, and who would pay for something like this to be made? Would any satanic cult have enough money to commission a one-off blade like that?

I have to repeat that the casting just looks way too far off to me. The depths are not right compared to anything similar I've seen - people who know how to cast usually know how to make the depth and relief last a properly long time. The style incorporates a lot of dissimilar elements; dragons, devils, ram's horns, and useless decorative bits somewhat like a fleur de lis (I'm sure it has a proper name, but I don't know it). And, it looks overdone in a lot of parts.

/r/SWORDS Thread Link - ebay.com