id: 96075 accession number: 1916.1811 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1811 updated: 2022-06-11 09:00:16.035000 Rapier, c. 1650. Spain, 17th century. Steel, pierced and chiseled, leather and wood grip; diameter: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.); overall: 105.6 cm (41 9/16 in.); blade: 99.5 cm (39 3/16 in.); quillions: 29.6 cm (11 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1811 title: Rapier title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1650 creation date earliest: 1645 creation date latest: 1655 current location: 210A Armor Court creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance copyright: --- culture: Spain, 17th century technique: steel, pierced and chiseled, leather and wood grip department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Arms & Armor type: Arms and Armor find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.); Overall: 105.6 cm (41 9/16 in.); Blade: 99.5 cm (39 3/16 in.); Quillions: 29.6 cm (11 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: chased and pierced watermarks: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Armor Court Reinstallation opening date: 1998-09-10T00:00:00 Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick (1783-1848), Goodrich, Herefordshire, England date: footnotes: citations: James Gurney, England date: ?-1898 footnotes: citations: (Sale: Christie, Manson & Woods, London. Choice collection of works of art, mostly of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Mar 8-12, 1898. Lot 242.) date: 1898 footnotes: citations: Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941) Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-1916 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1916- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Many civilians wore swords for self defense and for settling disputes by dueling; the swords often reflected contemporary taste and fashion. digital description: wall description: The rapier was a sword worn with civilian dress and used in duels. The term rapier derives from a 16th-century French word rapière, which in turn derived from the Spanish espada ropera, or “dress sword.” The rapier was a light weapon with a straight double-edged and pointed blade that, with the development of the art of fencing in the 1500s and 1600s, gradually became narrower and lighter, and thus suitable for thrusts only. With the new technique of swordplay emphasizing the point of the blade, sword guards became more complex to protect the duelist’s unarmored hand. These elaborate guards were frequently decorated by various techniques—chiseling, bluing, russeting, and damascening. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Christie, Manson & Woods, London. Choice collection of works of art, mostly of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Mar 8-12, 1898. Lot 242. page number: Mentioned: p. 30, lot 242 url: https://archive.org/details/Gurney/page/n34 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]. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (228) 248 url: https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour4/page/n319 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. page number: Mentioned: p. 119-120, E75; Reproduced: Plate XXXI, E75 url: https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n181 Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. page number: pp. 113, 172, cat. no. 186 url: Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: cat. no. 179, p. 191 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1811/1916.1811_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1811/1916.1811_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1811/1916.1811_full.tif