Collection record · Objects & craft
Rapier
The collection record classifies this work as arms and armor. It is dated c. 1580–1610. Recorded culture or place: Blade: Spain, Toledo Hilt: Italt, Belluno?, late 16th-early 17th Century.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Rapier
- Date
- c. 1580–1610
- Culture / origin
- Blade: Spain, Toledo Hilt: Italt, Belluno?, late 16th-early 17th Century
- Materials and technique
- steel, ribbed guard and pommel; wood and wire
- Dimensions
- Overall: 135.9 cm (53 1/2 in.); Blade: 111.1 cm (43 3/4 in.); Quillions: 25.5 cm (10 1/16 in.); Grip: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1974.59
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
The rapier was a sword worn with civilian dress and used in duels. The term rapier derives from the 16th-century French word rapière, which in turn derived from the Spanish espada ropera, or “dress sword.” The rapier was a light weapon with a straight double-edged and pointed blade that, with the development of the art of fencing in the 1500s and 1600s, gradually became narrower and lighter, and thus suitable for thrusts only. With the new technique of swordplay emphasizing the point of the blade, sword guards became more complex to protect the duelist’s unarmored hand. These elaborate guards were frequently decorated by various techniques—chiseling, bluing, russeting, and damascening.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift from the Bascom Little Estate · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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