[Roger Hooper]

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

[Glen A Cleeton]

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

[Nathan Robinson]

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

[Allan Senefelder]

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.

[Sean Flynt]

"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.

[Allan Senefelder]

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.

[Sean Flynt]

[Allan Senefelder]