A FINE FRENCH RAPIER C.1650

This magnificent rapier is a tour de force for the iron chiseler who made it. The shell guards comprise full relief standing classical figures on oval panels which float on delicately pierced foliage in the Brescian fashion but terminating in large fleur de lis motifs in each quadrant of the guard. The guard edges, quillons and pommel all bear complimentary figures. The blade is Spanish, perhaps earlier and signed Francisco Ruiz en Toledo among the most highly regarded makers of the period, whose work is represented in virtually every major public collection. It was customary for makers in Northern European countries to mount fine rapiers with Toledo blades. This example owes its exceptional preservation to its fine quality. At the time this rapier was made, the French led the the world in fashion and arguably, intellect. It was the Italians, however, who led in fencing-swordsmanship-a skill essential for every gentleman, to protect his honor in society and his purse in the streets. Mastery of the latest fencing techniques applied with the latest arms could and did mean the difference between life and death. Agility and sometimes use of the cape gave a fighter the edge over the earlier larger and slower blades. Blade: 31 1/4"

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