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Rapier

ca. 1650
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
  • Title: Rapier
  • Date: ca. 1650
  • Geography: Brescia
  • Culture: Italian, Brescia
  • Medium: Steel, wood
  • Dimensions: L. 57 1/8 in. (145.1 cm); L. of blade 49 1/2 in. (125.7 cm); W. 5 in. (12.7 cm); D. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 12 oz. (793.8 g)
  • Classification: Swords
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1904
  • Object Number: 04.3.41
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

More Artwork
Pair of Wheellock Pistols, Giovan Antonio Gavacciolo Italian, Steel, wood (walnut), Italian, Brescia
Pair of Wheellock Pistols
Lock maker Pistols made and decorated by Giovan Antonio Gavacciolo
Barrelsmith Lazarino Cominazzo
mid-17th century
Rapier of Prince-Elector Christian II of Saxony (1583–1611), Israel Schuech German, Steel, bronze, gold, enamel, paste jewels, cameos, pearls, wood, hilt, German, Dresden; blade, Spanish, Toledo
Rapier of Prince-Elector Christian II of Saxony (1583–1611)
Sword cutler Hilt by Israel Schuech
Bladesmith Blade by Juan Martinez
dated 1606
Pair of Flintlock Pistols, Giovan Battista Francino Italian, Steel, wood (walnut), wool, Italian, Brescia
Pair of Flintlock Pistols
Gunsmith Giovan Battista Francino
ca. 1686
Rapier, Steel, copper alloy, Italian
Rapier
Italian
ca. 1620–40
Carbine with Flintlock alla Fiorentina, Carlo Bottarelli Italian, Steel, wood (walnut), Italian, Brescia
Carbine with Flintlock alla Fiorentina
Steel-chiseler Carlo Bottarelli
Barrelsmith Giovanni Lazzarino Cominazzo
ca. 1660–70

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