may be an "épée de cour"
the sword of court is a weapon created in second half of the XVIIe century and used until the any end of the XVIIIe century.
in France, during King time, everybody was having right to enter Versailles,
nobody was allowed to enter Versailles Palace without bearing a sword
for that, it was a business of rented swords at entrance,
and for sure .. not first class weapons
but, it's just an idea
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Smallsword.jpg
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89p%C3%A9e_de_cour
à +
Dom