Lovely Antique Cup - Hilt Rapier Sword Signed Solingen Blade. 1700 - 1730
Item History & Price
This is a very rare, antique, cup-hilt rapier. This particular example is especially rare since it doesn’t have any signs of being tampered with in the Victorian era. So many swords at that time had hilts swapped and components changed, but this sword appears to be completely original and unchanged. The blade is in excellent condition with very minimal corrosion and attractive original patina. This sword is signed “XX PETER X BRABENDER X SOLINGEN XX", and on the opposite “XX PETE...R X BRABENDER X MEFECIT XX". There is another example from this smith in the Royal Armouries collection from their “Old Tower” collection (see link below). For the age of this piece, the Turks head wire weaves and the woven wire wrap of the hilt are in excellent solid condition. This is a true masterpiece of the swordsmith’s art. It’s hard to convey the emotion associated with handelling such a beautiful work of art and history. It will be sore to see it go, but it is time to pass it on. The blade is 37-1/2in long and the sword is approximately 44-1/8in long in total. The guard is an impressive 12-1/2in wide. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any additional questions. I’m happy to provide additional information or pictures as needed.
Royal Armouries example (object IX. 106) : https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-7007.html
Note: The Royal Armouries list the sword maker’s last name as “Braender”, however if you look at the pictures you can see the space where the ‘B’ was lightly stamped and has since faded from over polishing of the piece. Luckily the blade on this piece does not suffer from over polish and the true spelling of the name is clearly legible. In fact, I believe that the polish on this blade is untouched from its original level and even some original tool marks can be seen on the surface, which is exceptionally rare.
This sword is guaranteed to be an original antique as I have described above. However, I do not offer returns for other reasons so please look carefully and ask any questions before you bid.
Royal Armouries example (object IX. 106) : https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-7007.html
Note: The Royal Armouries list the sword maker’s last name as “Braender”, however if you look at the pictures you can see the space where the ‘B’ was lightly stamped and has since faded from over polishing of the piece. Luckily the blade on this piece does not suffer from over polish and the true spelling of the name is clearly legible. In fact, I believe that the polish on this blade is untouched from its original level and even some original tool marks can be seen on the surface, which is exceptionally rare.
This sword is guaranteed to be an original antique as I have described above. However, I do not offer returns for other reasons so please look carefully and ask any questions before you bid.
