The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Rapier

Rapier

c. 1650
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.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1811
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

Many civilians wore swords for self defense and for settling disputes by dueling; the swords often reflected contemporary taste and fashion.

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.
  • Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick (1783-1848), Goodrich, Herefordshire, England
    ?-1898
    James Gurney, England
    1898
    (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.)
    ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941) Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Christie, Manson & Woods, London. Choice collection of works of art, mostly of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Mar 8-12, 1898. Lot 242. Mentioned: p. 30, lot 242 archive.org
    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. (228) 248 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. 119-120, E75; Reproduced: Plate XXXI, E75 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 113, 172, cat. no. 186
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 179, p. 191
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Rapier|url=false|author=|year=c. 1650|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1811