I came across this photo of a fairly simple, but very interesting looking rapier offered by the Thomas Del Mar group last December. I wish I could figure out what is on the back side of the hilt. It looks like the guard ends in little beast heads, but maybe that is a photographic illusion.

Here is the accompanying text -

A SWORD IN SAXON EARLY 17TH CENTURY STYLE with double-edged blade cut with a running wolf mark between a pair of slender lines, tapering ricasso stamped with a mark on each side, steel hilt of faceted bars including moulded ring-guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate, flattened faceted ovoid pommel, and the grip bound with silver wire embossed with a criss-cross pattern and 'Turks' heads' 97cm; 38D in blade

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Very nice.

I am wondering how they attribute that date range to it. It seems more suited to a quite earlier form.

Lovely work, regardless.

Cheers

GC

It doesn't look like a rapier to me, but it does look like quite a nice sword.

Possibly a thumb ring? This looks more like a military sort of broad sword. Thumb rings were fairly common on later swords of that type.

"in the style" means the piece is modern, probably 19th c. in this case. It could be based on an original, but might just as likely be a Victorian fantasy.

Sean, you're of course correct regarding "in the style of ". Victorian work ran the gamut in quaility as you know of both work and historical accuracy . In my exposure to Victorian pieces it seems that generally the better quality pieces are geared twords at least being of a type that was in use if not being based on a specific piece especially where swords are concerned. Sometimes older, on ocaasion 17th century blades were used. This sword seems to be a quaility reproduction with good attention to detail at least from what I can tell from the photo.