The photograph with today’s column is filled with the implements and outfits of war. But this is a love story.
“It probably started when I was about 4 years old and I put on a princess costume,” says Marion Bastle, the woman in the photo. “Ever since then I have been in love with all things medieval.”
Bastle grew up on the Northwest Side and later ran a successful graphic design firm. That is when she started collecting ancient swords and began to realize that there were many others who shared her passion.
In 1994, she and a partner opened Knight’s Edge, guided by this philosophy: “To find great treasures and bring to you their charm and romance at an affordable price.”
The Knight’s Edge showroom, at 5896 N. Northwest Hwy. (773-775-3888) is packed with thousands of unusual items such as swords, suits of armor, crossbows, axes, jewelry, chain mail, helmets. You can also see these things, and more, in the company’s handsome 64-page catalogue.
“I adore history,” Bastle says. “And I must tell you that studying history is much more fun now than it was in school. I find the research fascinating.”
She often travels to other countries, where she pokes around libraries and castles looking for old items, or drawings of them. When she finds one (she also designs some things herself), she contracts to have it re-created by craftsmen in Italy, Spain and the Philippines, doing things the old-fashioned way: hand-forging over hot coals.
“I like to think that by doing this we are keeping history alive,” she says. “We do not sell cheesy stuff.”
The firm’s customers are, Bastle says, “really just about everybody . . . parents, businesses, teachers . . . everybody.”
Knight’s Edge has sold items that have been used in movies and plays. It recently sold some swords to the Lyric Opera for one of its productions.
We asked about the armor, since neither Osgood nor I could recall ever being in a house that featured a suit of armor. We must be socializing in the wrong circles. Bastle says that she sells a lot of metal suits, priced between $2,000 and $6,000.
“A lot of people use them as decoration,” she says, adding matter-of-factly, “but some people buy them to wear.”
BUSINESS MILITARY HISTORY UNUSUAL PROFILE
