The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Cup-Hilted Rapier

Cup-Hilted Rapier

c. 1650
Overall: 122.9 cm (48 3/8 in.); Quillions: 26.7 cm (10 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The guard is richly decorated with chiseled and pierced arabesques, an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines.

Description

For parrying, rapiers were often made with accompanying daggers as a matched set. The aristocracy's taste for rich and intricate styles of decoration led to extravagant gilding, chiseling, piercing, enameling, and silvering. The more costly or unusual these weapons appeared, the more they were desired by the clientele who commissioned them, not only for dueling but also as the ultimate accessory.
  • ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915]. Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (227) 247 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 119, E74; Reproduced: Plate XXXI, E74 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 115, 172; cat. no. 185
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 38 no. 07, September Mentioned & reproduced: cover archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 181, p. 191
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Cup-Hilted Rapier|url=false|author=|year=c. 1650|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1810