rapier for comment
 

Hello all ,

since i'm new here an i've got to start somewhere i tought to post this rapier up for comment's.
I found it as a sleeper in untouched condition, lengt is 124 cm or 49 inch.


Kind regards

ulfberth

Welcome to the fórum, Ulfberth :) .
Is this your 'nom de guerre' because you collect Ulfberht swords ? ;)
This is very a nice rapier. Do you have any ideas about its provenance ... not Spanish, is it ?

Hi Fernando,

wel i chose ulfberth with the h at the end to avoid copy rights ;)
nom de guerre... why not, collecting the ulfberht swords is out of the question i suppose... but i kike the mysticisme aroud the name.

The rapier came from the southern of France and could be Spanish or French, i even remember some English look alikes so im not quite sure...yet

greetings

Ulfberth

rapier for comment
 

Very interesting Rapier. ;)

This type of hilt dates to the mid-17th c., I would say ca.1650-1670. I don't think it's Spanish at all, or Italian, for that matter. North European, in my opinion.

I once had the previlege to be authorized to handle a fair number of Viking swords ... ULFBERHT examples included.
It felt like i was committing a sacrilege :o :cool: .

Thanks Matchlock for sharing your knowledge on my war name,
i did some reading in the past myself however not that intensive.

I included some more pictures of the rapier after i cleaned it.
I re-attached the grip wire, not restored because i dont want to open an untouched piece and ruin it :eek:
So in the proces i just used the original left overs of the grip wire that remained, (some were in bits and pieces) and added nothing to it, correction except pine tree glue that i make myself.

The gaurd has been cleaned with verry fine steelwol and then waxed with beeswax and after that rubbed and cleaned of with soft cloth and thus keeping the dark patina

For the blade i choose to go a bit further because i like to be able to see the structures in the mettal, and it is finished of with , yes olive oil !

and here is the end result...

kind regards

ulfberth ( the bishop ? or the viking ? )

wanted to post picturess after cleaning, but the file was too large, i"ll try again....

Hi Dmitry,
thanks for sharing, what make's you thing in the direction of north european ?
Do you mean German or rather dutch or Scandinavian ?
I sommetimes find it hard to determin on sivillian rapiers because they were made to the taste of the swordmaker or owner and are more ore less inspired by military models.

kind regards

Ulfberth

the hilt with the saucer shaped guard and a small curl on the knuckle guard opposite the fore finger is of Norman type 93.
it can be dated about 1635-1660.
in art:
David Teniers II - a guard room scene, Six collection Amsterdam
Portrait Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Tyrol, KHM Viena inv. no 8023
real examples:
a similar hilt in the muse de l'armee, paris cat no J-264
cf Wallace no A677 with the rear quillon dividing into two branches. 1635-1640

best,

Thanks Cornelis,

thats it right on the spot, should we conclude that is is therefore north italian of origine, or used troughout Europe...
( i'm cleaning a sinclair sword )

kind regards

Ulfberth

At the first half of the 17th century, a radical change took place in the sword fencing style. The French school" escrime francaise" began to supplant the Italian and the Spanish fencing schools.

The main feature of this French school was smooth/loose manner of holding the sword with thumb and forefinger on each side of the the grip.
This manner of holding had great influence on the design of the hilt.
Since the focus of French fencing was merely on the thrust. the hilt was closed by a guard plate. (instead of a complex system of bars)
In order to make the sword more agile it became lighter in weight and shorter in blade length.
This eventually led to THE small word.

This development is attributed erroneously as a french development, however, Dutch paintings Rotius and Van der Hellst show an interest-rich phase in the development of the rapier to the small sword in 1648 and 1649. namely the transition rapier (The transition from rapier to small sword).
There is no historical evidence for this term transitional rapier.

It is not possible to allocate the origin of your transitional rapier, however,
it is not unlikely that your rapier is made in the low countries, Netherlands Belgium.


best,

Cornelis,

thank for the outstanding information on the history of this type of rapier !

Kind regards

Ulfberth

Nice job stabilizing the wire on the grip, and way too aggressive with the blade. I would have left the patina as is.
Just my $.02

Beautifully identified and described Jasper, as always!!!
Good points on terms such as noted, transitional rapier, and of course there are others I cannot think of off hand. Many of these kinds of terms have entered the arms and armour lexicon rather subtly via discussions and descriptions not necessarily widely published.

Another interesting point made is that developing production centers for arms of other regions may be the source for many variations or 'transitional' types of arms. As mentioned, the Low Countries and centers such as Liege; the emigration of Solingen makers, expansion of foreign influences and developing fashion and stylistic tendancies offer us not only challenges, but opportunities, to better understand these intriguing and often atypical forms.