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The Spanish flamboyant blade is inscribed 'VALENCIA ME FECIT'","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"},{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"forging","id":"AAT54033"},{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"bluing","id":"x42855"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cut, pierced and engraved steel, blued and inlaid with gold","categories":[{"text":"Arms & Armour","id":"THES48992"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2008BW2321","2010EF0987","2010EF0986","2008BW2315","2010EF0899","2021NB3748","2021NB3749","2010EF0883","2021NB3750","2021NB3751","2021NB3752","2021NB3753","2010EF0884","2010EF0885","2021NB3754","2021NB3755","2021NB3756","2017JT7176","2017JX8498"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES412377"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Sword","id":""}],[{"text":"Rapier","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Valencia","id":"x31243"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"blade"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1600","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1604-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by D. M. Currie","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"131.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"whole","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"23.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"quillons (cross bar)","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"13.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"hilt","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"108.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"blade (tip to hilt)","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"5.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"ricasso","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"8.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"grip","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"5.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"30/09/2021","earliest":"2021-09-30","latest":"2021-09-30"},"part":"pommel","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"1280","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"24/07/2023","earliest":"2023-07-24","latest":"2023-07-24"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"inscribed 'VALENCIA ME FECIT'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On blade"}],"objectHistory":"Rapiers in the Renaissance period were specialist civilian swords used in fencing and duelling. They were working dress accessories that communicated the status of the wearer, and if that failed, defended it in combat. This is an extremely unusual rapier. While the hilt was the most prominent part of a rapier, and therefore was almost always its most heavily decorated feature, the most ornate examples were fitted to blades left undecorated. Occasionally however, a blade might be just as impressive as its hilt. An ornate blade suggested its owner drew it often, since its excellence could be admired in no other way. \n\nThe blade of this rapier is a virtuoso piece of metalwork, each of the ninety-six cusps in the blade painstakingly forged and staggered with an unusual stepped effect. The 'teeth' have also been hammered with recessed rectangular panels to emphasise their geometric qualities. Both cusps and teeth are razor-sharp to create serrated cutting edges.\n\nAlthough such a blade might have been intended primarily to show off the skill of the smith, Capwell, in the Catalogue <u>Noble Art of the Sword</u> (Wallace Collection, 2011) suggests its threatening appearance was not entirely accidental and that it may have been hoped that its appearence would surprise and unsettle an combatant in the opening stage of a duel. The serrated edges might also have prevented an adversary from grabbing the blade during a fight.\n\nThe hilt is pierced, chiselled and filed to create a series of linked chains in harmony with the geometry opf the blade. Several other Italian chain hilts made in this style survive including one that belonged to Don Juan of Austria (1547-78), famous for his victory in the Battle of Lepanto (1571).\n\n","historicalContext":"Swords were not just weapons but important  decorative elements in masculine  costume. They  were symbols of honour and rank for their owners  throughout  Europe. They remained an  indispensible feature of outdoor dress of any  person  with pretensions to status until the late  18th century in Europe.\r\n\r\nThe most common sword worn by gentlemen with their civilian dress from the middle of the 16th century onwards was the rapier. From 1560 it was applied almost exclusively to a fencing sword for civilian use. It was usual for rapiers to be   accompanied by matching daggers. The rapier was a thrusting and slashing weapon with a slender light blade, while the dagger was more robust, used  primarily for parrying and for thrusting in  close. Rapier scabbards were suspended  from a  belt in a form of sling while the dagger was  generally worn in a sheath on  the left hip.\r\n\r\nIn England rapiers were subject to sumptuary laws  determining levels the of  ostentation in which one  might dress according to status. John Stow (ca.  1525- 1605) wrote of 'grave citizens' positioned by  Royal decree at the gates of London  who job it  was 'to break the Rapier's poynts of all passengers  that exceeded a  yeard in length of their Rapier.'\r\n\r\nThe classic rapier of the period 1570-1630 had a  'swept' hilt like this one. This was made up of interlinked bars and rings in front of and behind the guard sweeping in an elegant curve from the rear of the hilt to the knuckle guard. It afforded  much more protection for the hand than the older  straight quillons but was still not immune  from the  thrust of a thin rapier blade.\r\n\r\nSword hilts became more and more elaborate after  the introduction of firearms. Prior to that swords  were used against armour primarily as cutting and  thrusting  weapons while the hand was protected  by a gauntlet or by mail. Improvements to firearms  made much armour redundant and so freedom of   movement became more of a priority particularly as  swords became more part of  civilian dress.  Civilians were unlikely to wear hand protection in  the way a soldier would and a forward thrust  would expose the hand to danger. Hilts became  more  elaborate as a result. Fencing as a training  activity became increasingly codified and a  standard part of male education. The most  expensive hilts received the richest ornament that  could be applied without impairing the sword's  function.\r\n\r\nSword blades were articles of international trade,  made in a few important centres and shipped all  over Europe where they were fitted with hilts in  the local fashion. During the 16th and 17th  centuries the sword blades of Toledo, Valencia and Milan were the most  sought after but the largest centre of production was the German town of Solingen. The finest hilts were usually equipped with a Spanish blade but if  not available a German blade (sometimes with a spurious Spanish inscription) was fitted instead. This example is signed VALENCIA ME FECIT (I was made in Valencia).","briefDescription":"Rapier with a cut, pierced and engraved steel hilt in the form of chains, blued and inlaid with gold with a Spanish flamboyant blade, France, ca. 1600","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Capwell, Tobias, <u>The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe 1520- 1630</u>, Exhibition Catalogue, The Wallace Collection, London, 2012, p. 64, cat. 2.19, ill. and described."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Patterson, Angus, <u>Fashion and Armour in Renaissance Europe: Proud  Lookes and Brave Attire</u>, V&A Publications, London, 2009, pp. 56-77"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Coe, Michael D. et al, Swords and Hilt Weapons,  Barnes and Noble  Books, New York, 1993, ISBN 1- 56619-249-8, p. 58-62"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.184-1921"],"accessionNumberNum":"184","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1921,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-03","recordCreationDate":"2004-03-31","availableToBook":true}}