[Guillaume Vauthier]

There are today a great number of rapiers from the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries in museums, private collections, or on online auctions catalogue. Some particular types are highly represented, like the famous "two rings" or "three rings" designs for example.

But at the moment I'm interested in the most simple and sober types - and it appears to be more difficult to find, as several rapiers used at the time were recycled and used later for other stuff. I guess than most of the time, only the great chefs d'œuvre survived until nowadays, as we can see in various museums like the Wallace Collection, the MET Museum or the Dresden State Collections. There are also some "rustical" hilts (e.g. the Wallace Collection A576), but they are less common today.

So, have you got some examples of simpler, more strictly popular rapiers of this time? To show you what I mean, here are three examples I found:

A venetian rapier:




A french rapier, excavated in Dordogne in southern France (more pictures here):






A french or flemish rapier kept in the Musée de l'Histoire du Fer in northeastern France:







As you can see, these hilt designs are very sober and plain (and ornementations are very scarce). Do someone have some other examples of very simple and functional (the complicated designs are also functional, but you see what I mean!) hilt styles?

[Mark Moore]

I don't have any photos or info for you, but I love that bottom example. I wish someone would re-create that one! It looks like it's still sharp enough to use with all the effectiveness of when it was new. Sweet! Never seen that one before.......McM

[Guillaume Vauthier]

This is indeed a nice sword! Actually I had the chance to examine and handle it, and if it is not as sharp as back in the days, it was still pretty impressive. It is very light and more specialized in cutting that the average, with a lenticular section on foible and a PoB very far from guard - 21cm if I remember well.

But I hope I will find other examples of "rustical guarded" rapiers than these three ones!

[Radovan Geist]

Some examples were posted in this forum: http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=29853&highlight=
These rapiers are indeed very interesting. In some cases one must wander whether they are composites, or genuine pieces.

[Guillaume Vauthier]

Yes, sorry, I didn't saw this past topic - very interesting too. The problem of the later reconstruction is of course an eventuality.

Personally, my favourite is the french excavated rapier (the only to have the matching parrying dagger by the way). I would be very glad to see some historical rapiers with similar hilts.