id:			96075
accession number:	1916.1811
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1811
updated:		2022-10-28 20:20:02.056000

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:			

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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: 

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CREATORS

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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:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Armor Court Reinstallation
	opening date:   1998-09-10T00:00:00
	<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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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: 	


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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 <em>rapière</em>, which in turn derived from the Spanish <em>espada ropera</em>, 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.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Christie, Manson &amp; Woods, London. <em>Choice collection of works of art, mostly of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries</em>. Mar 8-12, 1898. Lot 242.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 30, lot 242
	url:		https://archive.org/details/Gurney/page/n34

	<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. Vol. 4, <em>17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work</em>. [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. <em>A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms &amp; Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923</em>. 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.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
	page number: 	pp. 113, 172, cat. no. 186
	url:		

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
	page number: 	cat. no. 179, p. 191
	url:		

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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