Little rapier with cut hilt - 18th century?

[Fuzzysnuggleduck]

Hi,
Hoping forums members might have inputs and perspective on this one.

I collect British military swords mainly and firearms of the 18th and 19th century.
I took a chance in auction on this '18th century cup-hilt rapier'. It is not a cup hilt rapier of the type or era when rapiers were prominent, and being a non-military pattern I can’t fathom it exactly.



First of all, it is a small "rapier": 93cm overall and a 74cm blade.
I would say the blade is really more of a small sword which just happens to have a cup-hilt.
The single fuller on the blade is also more typical of later sword making.
If this was 18th century (as sold) I would say it has some features in common with the 1798 spadroon of British Infantry officers. However, my spadroon has a fuller for the entire length of the blade. This one have the fuller for 38.5cm and point with 35cm, ricasso (with some engraving) is only 1cm. Fuller and balde close to 50/50 then; bade at point is very flattened and oval.

The engraving style on the rapier is also quite similar to my spadroon, with engraved decoration, and some in some similar 'floral' style.

The crescent motif on the rapier blade appears on French officers swords of the same period too, alongside floral and scroll type. Hence I feel the rapier engraving seems more like later 18th century fashion.

The sword was said by the seller to have been 'cleaned'. It has been very highly re-polished, to the extent that some of the blade engraving has been removed off the highest point of the bevel.


If this was 18th century, I might wonder if this is basically a carrying sword of the type used as a civilian gentleman's accoutrement. The cup hilt is associated with -and said to have persisted culturally with-the Spanish a bit later. Is this example therefore a version of what is otherwise a 'court sword' or small sword?

The cup's hand protection would be near-zero for cleaving or crushing blows. There are a couple of small cracks at each quillion location.
Their is no rim to the cup, and it is barely 1mm thick. It would deflect thrusts to a degree but not much else.



The quillions are not welded to the cup.
There is a bronze or brass plate on the cup, which I might have thought concealed a repair but the underside of the cup is uniform. Appears to be soldered on and some excess is visible, and is a hand made looking disc. The green lines are a malachite patina under a loupe glass.

There is quite a clear patina, almost looks bronze-like ‘coherent patina’, under the cup guard.



The hilt seems to be a silver wire over what I presume is wood. Even though there is some movement of the wire to allow me to see the material underneath with a loupe, there is so much resinous or greasy material under it that a scratch of that surface only lifts crud, and I don’t care to cut deeper to confirm.

(10b Wire binding to come in next post)

The tang can be seen to be peened on the heavily polish pommel.


Like the 1798 spadroon, and even more so, this really feels more like a gentleman's form of arm for use against the same; rather than something intended for heavy swordplay or battle.

IMO The cup hilt probably doesn't fit with the Victorian-era rapiers for wall mounting within a parlour - not a British cultural form!
Nor does this feel theatrical or something purely modern.
Feels enough like a real sword, albeit civilian, but evolving towards to being an ornament.
I fence with an epee and sabre, and although I don't know what form the tang takes within the handle, the overall feel is more robust than my 19th century Spanish court sword. You could put holes in people with this, and delivery minor cuts if it was sharpened up).

The only marks it are a XI or IX along the back of the blade, and two locations with a line of 3 dots punched in.

(12 XI to come in next post)
(13 3 dots to come in next post)
(14 3 Dots to come in next post)

So - really outside of my niche this one.
Looks nice enough on the wall alongside the others.

Any thoughts from collectors with a deeper and/or braider knowledge than mine?

[Radboud]

Interesting sword.

My observations:
As you say, the blade is likely late 18th Century. My money would be that it is from a French officer's spadroon going by the decorations. Being a backsword, this is not the type of blade that belongs on a cuphilt rapier or smallsword.

I'm concerned that only the tip of the ricasso decoration shows; normally, this would be part of a larger panel, which might be a sign that this has been cut back. But otherwise, the ricasso looks fine... so I don't know.

The cup is of much more modern production, likely 20th cent. I've not seen the use of a brass disk like that before, and the use of solder like that is also very irregular. The wire looks too recent as well. The quillons look like they were made of bar stock and welded on, the same for the guard. Finally, that metal tube covering the ricasso between the cup and crossguard is just wrong.

[Fuzzysnuggleduck]

Thanks Radboud!
That the riccaso is missing a bit, and maybe shortened, was something I considered since part of the engraving seems to look like it is cut off or could originally go below the edge of the cup.

A recycled blade, onto a more recent cup & hilt makes sense. The solder also felt like a repair and a bit sloppy. So a more recent composite actually would fit the evidence better.
(BTW, I am in NZ as well.)

Numerals, cuts in steel.

3 dots, and another view of the 'wrong' looking tube between handle and cup.

[Radboud]

I don’t know what the three dots mean I’m sorry, but that swirl on the base of the spine looks like the top of a ‘Solingen Rose’ a mark commonly found on blades from Solingen. I don’t know what the numerals mean on the spine, but it is something I have seen on French swords before. My An XI troopers sabre has similar marks as well.

Where in NZ are you based? There’s a show next Sunday at Alexandra Park, in Auckland where I’ll be showing my 1796 Patterns. Stop by and say hi if you can.

[Fuzzysnuggleduck]

Thanks again! I think we have the 'rapier' figured out. I can match the engraving style, the top of the missing panel/cut away, and the fuller and blade type to French officer's swords online.
I am in Hamilton, and will plan to come up to the Arms Fair. Hope to be there, and will look out for any displays of swords.