Spanish Cup Hilt Rapier dating to circa 1670 to 1700 mounted with a Toledo Blade

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Price: £2,950

Ref: 090.23

Item Description

A Spanish Cup Hilt Rapier, mounted with a long, slender blade of stiff, flattened lenticular section. Rapiers of this plain, elegant, well designed and robust form were common with Spanish military officers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. This example retains its full length blade of 42.75 inches (108.5 cm) and is well balanced in hand. 

The cup hilt is forged from one piece of iron turned over at the edge to form a blade trapping brim. Inside, the blade ricasso passes through a thick, flat, oval steel roundel,  decorated with narrow and broad cusped edges, which gives strength to the hilt structure. This roundel is fixed in place by two screws which penetrate the dish guard from the outside either side of the cutting edge of the blade. The guard is decorated with two grooves which extend around the cup just beneath the brim. 

The quillon block has two downward facing small langets which are decorated with grooves which converge at the pointed terminals. Front and back, long horizontal quillons of rounded section, together with a knuckle bow to the front emanate from the block with trumpet shaped swollen terminals. The knuckle bow curves uniformly towards the pommel front. Underneath, two pas d’ane rings extend from the quillon block, in line with the quillons, which curve uniformly downwards to attach to the sides of the roundel beneath. 

The pommel is of slightly compressed globular form, with an integral flared neck beneath, and pommel button on top, both decorated with hemispherical lines similar in style to those at the cup brim. The slightly flattened baluster shaped grip is bound with alternately twisted roped steel wire and mounted with woven “Turks’ Heads” top and bottom. 

The blade has a short ricasso from which a pronounced central fuller, bordered with incised lines, extends for 15 inches (38 cm), and tapers in proportion with the taper of the blade. After the end of the fuller an armourer’s mark in the form of a stylised  anchor is impressed into the blade each side. Inside the fuller on one side is the name of the blade smith stamped in separate spaced letters “T H O M A S   A G A I P E” bordered with small cross marks. On the reverse a stamp reads “E N   T O L E D O”. The “E” and “D” letters of the town are substituted for small counter-facing orb and cross marks.  The letter “T” for Toledo is also present in a stamp, visible  on one side of the  ricasso.  

The rapier is in good overall condition and its parts are tight together. The blade has an evenly pitted surface all over matched by similar pitting in patches on the dish guard, quillons and pommel.   

Overall length is inches 50.25 ( 127.5 cm). The quillon span is just over 10.5 inches (27 cm).