Cup-hilt Rapier
Maker: Unknown
Button-shaped pommel, with tall tang-button with collar. Chiselled with scrolls. Knuckle-guard of circular section, chiselled with spiral fluting, swelling towards the lower curve and terminating against the side of the pommel with a little flat umbrella-shaped hoop, long, straight quillons of the same form as the knuckle-guard; wire-bound grip with a longitudinal plate along each of its four faces. Turks' heads at top and bottom. Long pointed ecusson, chiselled en suite with the pommel. Deep cup-guard, the upper rim strongly turned over outwards (a rompepuntas). This rompepuntas is chiselled with running scrolls pierced à jour. The cup itself is chiselled with conventional scrolls and loops, rather poorly executed. There is a heavy garda polvo (dust-guard) inside the cup, chiselled en suite with the rompepuntas.
Long narrow blade of flat hexagonal section with a fuller pressed à jour at the forte which is flanked by little engraved flowers and tendrils. These extend nearly half-way along the blade, some of them below the fuller still retaining this original latten inlay.
Norman hilt type 101.
History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex
J.S. Henderson
Length: 124.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart
17th Century, Mid#
Circa
1640
-
1660
The semi-spherical guard of this type of sword has given rise to the name 'cup-hilted'. This example has intricately chiselled and pierced decoration characteristic of many of this type of hilt and especially of those made in north Italy, particularly in Brescia.
Inlay
composed of
latten
Blade
Length 104.5 cm
Quillons
Length 26.3 cm
Decoration
Sword
Accession number: HEN.M.235-1933
Primary reference Number: 18972
Old object number: B260
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cup-hilt Rapier" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18972 Accessed: 2024-04-25 00:53:16
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18972
|title=Cup-hilt Rapier
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-25 00:53:16|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-18972
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