FINELY CHISELED NORTH EUROPEAN RAPIER C.1660

This sword derives from a group which developed about 1640 and was popular for a few decades only. The core of the group are the dish hilted rapiers of which this is a variation. Straight quillons with scroll terminals, each issuing from a hound's head. The hilt elements are finely chiseled in high relief with military motifs including flags, Turkish tents and cavalry in armor. The quillon block is chiseled in a mounted cuirassier one side and pikeman on the reverse, both in armor. It was probably the civilian sword of a military officer and the time frame coincides with the build up of military activity between the Ottoman Empire and Northern Europe which culminated in the Siege of Vienna of 1683. The 33" thrusting blade is fullered and decorated with a tendril at the forte.