This is part of a collection I am helping a family friend with. Her late husband's father collected arms and armour (and books) during his travels in Europe in the 1920's and 30's. Most of these pieces have been stored in her living room for 70 years basically untouched.
The sword is not a replica nor modern reproduction. This is the real deal.
Overall length is 47" with the center of balance about 1 inch from the hilt. Very nice in the hand. Wrap is wire and it a bit loose but still intact. The blade was covered with dust and gunk. The gunk on the blade came right off with Noxon but the hilt seems more resistant to cleaning. I am not an expert on restoration of Western arms but from my experience with Japanese pieces the blade is in fine condition overall, the hilt seems a bit more rusted but there is no real "structural" damage. It can stand some TLC in other words, but it is a fine example of an early 17th century rapier.
There is some interesting work in the fuller. Here's a photo of that...
There is a photoalbum of the rapier here on my site: http://summerchild.com/rapier The rust in the photos looks a lot darker in the photos than in real life. One of these days I'll figure out how to color balance this stuff better. Or maybe its my monitor.
I've seen prices on authentic pieces ranging from $3500 up to over $7000. The owner is asking $3750 (plus shipping/insurance) for this rapier.
Hopefully she will allow me to move some other pieces from her collection over time.
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