In 1937, Clarence Lindsey wanted an image of the sword for himself. Fancying himself a painter, he rendered a small version of it. He wasn't an extremely skilled artist, but his version of the sword wasn't really that bad either. That particular painting is now in my keeping. In 1978 I had it "sealed" with a clear coat for oil paintings to protect it because it was becoming highly discolored and many of the highlights were becoming a greenish yellow color.

In the meantime, the original painting had come into the keeping of my grandfather, Marshall Masterson Lindsey. I can still remember the painting over the mantle in his study at his mansion in Baton Rouge, LA. We would go to see him regularly (almost daily) and I would sit for hours staring at that painting hanging over the fireplace ... even as a youngster of four through six years old, it made quite an impression on me during those years.

My grandfather, who seemed a wealth of knowledge in family tradition, would often spend a great deal of time telling me various stories about the sword. During those early years of my life, my father took a large sheet of vellum (you could buy it in large rolls back then), took down the painting and traced the sword's design on it (his way of keeping me occupied when we'd have company at the house ... it was always a treat for me whenever he'd spread it out on the floor and I'd sit there for hours staring at it while he and my mom entertained our visitors).

In 1960, my grandfather died leaving no will or Succession Of Estate. All of his belongings went to auction and the proceeds to the State of Louisiana rather than to my father or myself. It's an unfair way of doing things, but that is how Louisiana is governed (or, at least was back in the 50s and 60s). We've not seen the painting since, and, though I've searched for years to trace it down, I can find nothing. I don't know if the painting still exists or if it's still even in the US. For all I know it could have found its way to Europe or some other place.

I've had a few swordmakers tell me I'm full of bull when they hear the history of my family's sword, and yet others are fascinated with it. I guess it all depends upon the open receptiveness of the person hearing the tale and, therefore, I do not often tell it. What may be rubbish to someone else is precious to me and I've spent a great deal of time learning from old-timers in the family whatever I could before the stories become lost as the family elders died one by one. I wish I had more substantial documentation to back it all up, but all I have is that old tracing and the 1937 painting that Clarence did.

Photograph of the original 1958 vellum tracing made from the original painting of 1654

A scan of the 1937 painting by Clarence Lindsey

The original tracing is kept safely stored away, folded up in a plastic document protector and what I used to view the sword's image are 11x17 photocopy reductions of it (while stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB OH in 1977 I took my tracing to the Base Reproduction Facility and had one of the airmen photocopy and reduce the image so that it would fit on 11x17 paper).

Another story about the sword's creation that my grandfather told me was a controversy among some family members over the painting. It appears that some family members believed the sword was entirely silver colored steel … highly polished and pleasing to the eye, but entirely silver colored. They did not believe the painting to be accurate as it displayed the sword having a gold colored pommel and guard.

Thus, some family members took the painting at face value (I'm one of them) and believe the sword looked exactly as in the painting, while others shunned the painting as farcical in its representation of the coloring of the sword.

My deepest regret concerning the sword is the loss of the full-sized painting that was rendered in 1654. That it should go to auction rather than to my grandfather's heirs because he had no will or legal succession documents is more than a shame … it's heartbreaking.

After a lot of discussion, description, and recollection in repeated attempts to recreate a concept image of what the original painting looked like, we have finally been able to piece together a composite illustrating the original 1654 Discerner painting. While the image is not perfect, it approximates what we feel is a good representation of the 1654 original painting.

Jim Lindsey: This is a very close suggestion that illustrates the original painting very well. It's likely that we'll never get the picture frame entirely exact, only a photo of the actual painting could help us there. But this is nevertheless a very close approximation down to the oversized gaudiness of the frame. It is unknown when the picture was last framed and I'm sure that the frame the painting was in at the time it was in my grandfather's possession was not the very first frame ever to hold the canvass. I have seen other frames that were very similar to this in different sizes and shapes and I suspect that it was, at one time, not only a popular sort of framework, but a very stylish thing to ornate large oil paintings with a huge and grandiose frame. This is a nice concept image that brings back a lot of fond memories of the original.

After I became an adult I tried researching to see where it might have ended up or who bought it at auction, but the clerks I dealt with told me that, quite simply, it was too long ago and there are no records concerning it.

Is it still in the States? Has it made its way to some other part of the world? Does it even still exist? These are questions I hope someday to answer … just as it's been my goal to someday acquire a perfect reproduction of our sword, it is likewise a goal of mine to eventually track down the painting and, perhaps, reacquire it so that it comes back into the family.

What a treasured heirloom it would be … and to pass both the recreated sword as well as the painting down to future generations would be a wonderful thing. While I have no sons of my own, there are other members of the family to whom I could pass these treasured heirlooms. It would certainly be my small contribution in life when it comes to upholding the good Scottish & Irish name of Lindsey.