I have for sale a very beautiful antique transitional rapier. It is one of the earliest types to use a smallsword hilt while maintaining a rapier blade. This piece is of European origin, most likely French, with a brass hilt and damascened steeled blade showing a very clear wootz pattern. The forte is overlayed with gold and etched with some wording I was unable to decipher along with the year 1664 and a picture of what appears to be a ruler of some sort holding a sceptre (open to interpretation). As a note, this is not a smallsword and is in fact a rapier, despite the style of the hilt. I've confirmed this with several experts. And although the style of the hilt is essentially identical to what was later used for the smallsword, it is considerable larger in size than any antique smallswords I have handled. It's a very rare sword and the condition is remarkable. I've seen similar pieces sell for several thousand dollars and up. I'm not expecting to get that much for it but I would like to see a decent number. I will entertain any reasonable offer, so pm me. See the attached pics.
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