Side sword with Victorian chiseled hilt?

[10thRoyal]

The swords are in! Very happy with them, though the schiavona guard is loose. That one has a surprisingly heavy blade. The Venetian marine sword is feels great even with the non original grip. The weight and balance on it feel completely correct.

Now the rapier. Incredibly light feeling (which shouldn't be surprising, that's kind of the point). No markings on the blade or stamps on the ricasso. If a stamp is there, it is so light as to be invisible. Blade is forty inches long and transitions from a traditional flat blade to a fine diamond cross section. The thickness of the diamond portion is greater than the flat portion, meaning from the side the thickness actually appears to increase.

[ulfberth]

That sounds all good 10th Royal, schiavonas with the blade type like yours feel a bit heavy especialy the longer ones, its an arming sword, the guard a bit loose is also normal many swords and rapiers alike have some movement in the guard.
The cup hilt with the diamond cross section and sligthly thicker after the forte is exactly how these blades should be , these blades were a huge step forward back than and were very difficult to make and by the time more good blade smiths could make them the rapier hilts were almost out of use and the small sword became the weapon of choice. Blade marks or a name on the blade is always exiting and more valuable but its not a must, there are plenty of good blades that were never marked and some for specific reasons.
kind regards
Ulfberth

[urbanspaceman]

What is especially interesting about the rapier, which in some ways contradicts what I suggested in my earlier post, is that it is munitions grade - almost totally devoid of embellishment, suggesting it was purely utilitarian and not ever for display.
This suggests to me that it was an everyday civilian's 'self-defence' weapon, and as such was very well chosen considering the wide array of attacking weapons possible.
At one time I thought this style of blade would be simpler to produce than the subsequent hollow-ground smallsword style, but considering your statement further Ulfberth, I now agree it must have presented quite a challenge.

[10thRoyal]

I personally quite enjoy the idea of an "everyday carry" rapier hahaha. That's exactly how it feels. Comfortable, light, not excessively huge. I'd be curious to see what form a scabbard for this would take.

A few final thoughts on the chiseled hilt rapier. Balance is surprisingly quite nice. Balance is just forward of the grip. It appears there was another half shell that has since broken off, the fracture face has been covered in some sort of tin braze I think, hence the odd surface finish at that location. There was a sticker with collection number under the remaining guard. The schiavona pommel may not be strictly correct to the sword, but is actually really very nice.


To my surprise, the marine saber may be my favorite. It feels very nice in the hand. Very good balance. Definitely a "knife work" ready sword. The blade also has a very nice false edge on the clipped point. Needs a good tooth brush cleaning and oiling to prevent red rust. The grip to my surprise isn't wood at all but is a cast (I'm assuming) grip. Maybe from a later saber or cutlass? It looks like the pommel cap which is a separate piece, fits it perfectly, so likely went with that grip. I'll see if I can find a match. All in all, I'm very happy. 10/10 would board Ottaman galley with this in hand.




Schiavona is still nice but maybe the weakest of the four. I've never held anything "munitions grade" from this time period, but I imagine it feels just like the schiavona. Balance feels way too heavy for the size. The blade is almost certainly shortened. The thickness of the edge towards the tip is far to thick and doesn't match the edge thickness towards the grip. Blade still tapers in thickness from ricasso to tip but not enough to be comfortable. This one I will probably part with to further the collection.