Cup-Hilted Rapier

Bladesmith Blade inscribed by Peter Tesche German/Solingen

mid-17th century

Not on view

The rapier was the principal civilian sidearm throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Designed for cut-and-thrust fencing of progressively complex techniques, the rapier is characterized by a double-edged blade with an acute point and an elaborate guard for the hand. The guards, usually of iron or steel, were subject to a variety of embellishment. They were engraved, chiseled, gilded, damascened, and encrusted in gold and silver in keeping with fashionable styles.

Unless otherwise noted, the materials, attributions, and dating given here refer to the hilts. Rapier blades, invariably of steel, bear a variety of maker’s marks denoting their origin in the two principal centers of blademaking, Toledo in Spain and Solingen in Germany.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Cup-Hilted Rapier
Bladesmith: Blade inscribed by Peter Tesche (German, Solingen, active mid-17th century)
Date: mid-17th century
Geography: Solingen
Culture: German, Solingen; hilt, possibly Spanish
Medium: Steel, wood, iron, leather
Dimensions: L. 44 1/2 in. (113 cm); L. of blade 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm); W. 11 in. (27.9 cm); D. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 1 oz. (935.53 g)
Classification: Swords
Credit Line: Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Object Number: 14.25.1066
Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

By Peter Tesche

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Rapier, Peter Tesche German/Solingen, Steel, copper, wood, German — Rapier
Bladesmith Peter Tesche
ca. 1600–10

Cup-Hilted Rapier, Steel, copper wire, hilt, Spanish; blade, German, Solingen — Cup-Hilted Rapier
hilt, Spanish; blade, German, Solingen
mid-17th century

Rapier, Steel, iron, wood, copper, hilt, probably Dutch; blade, German, Munich — Rapier
hilt, probably Dutch; blade, German, Munich
hilt, ca. 1650 (grip, restored 1995); blade, mid-to late 17th century

Rapier, Arnolt Windhvfel German, Steel, silver, wood, Spanish; blade, German, Solingen — Rapier
Bladesmith Blade inscribed by Arnolt Windhvfel
18th century

Rapier, Steel, wood, iron, possibly Italian — Rapier
possibly Italian
ca. 1575–80

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