Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jan 3, 2016 15:11:44 GMT
The title refers to the difference between the Spanish and the Italian school of design. The Italians wanted rapiers with lots of branches, while the Spanish were comfortable with sticking a dish on what is basically a single guard medieval sword design. Image courtesy of ,,Les Armes Blanches' by l'Hoste. French rapier ca. 1650. English duelling rapier ca.1640. Both wanted to get rid of the maille gloves needed to wield a single guard weapon. Leather gloves were cheap and offered much more ease of movement. While the above example seems quite early to me, the Taza I show here is, I think, a later design, well on the way to the smallsword. The pas d'ane cannot be used anymore and the dish is smaller than the one on the early Taza, though still substantial and larger than any on the epee. This civilian design was a la mode from the end of the 17th C. up to the beginning of the 18th C. This sword handles very well and has a comfortable and long grip, aiding free movement of the hand. The blade is of a flat oval construction, has double fullers on both sides and is 90,5 cm long. Total length is 107,5 cm. The inscription in each of the fullers reads ,, VALANCIA'' and at the fullers end a half moon, with a face in profile to the left, is punched in. The dish is ajour worked and looks like a woven basket. Some detail on the inside. and the globe pommel. All in all this is a nice find I think. Some numbers. Total length: 107,5 cm. Blade length: 90,5 cm. Blade width at guard: 24 mm. Blade thickness: 7 - 4 - 2 mm. POB: 8 cm from the cup. Cheers.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jan 3, 2016 16:48:01 GMT
Thanks for sharing and giving the statistics. Now I don’t feel quite as bad about the small diameter of the quillion on my Pilsen Rapier though I still wish it larger. What is the diameter of that dish?
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Jan 3, 2016 17:02:31 GMT
You are welcome.
Diameter of the cup/basket/ dish/whatever is 10,5 cm.
Hope the numbers are of some use to someone. It looks like nobody is doing that with antiques for some reason. I think it is important.
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