A Spanish rapier Early 17TH century

Jim McDougall · 13th February 2017, 05:46 PM

Totally with Fernando re: Jasper........expertise is the word!!!
I am intrigued by the unusual motif in this rapier hilt, and tried to find something comparable but my resources seem disturbingly limited and nothing close.

I am curious on the inscription in the blade, and it seems the Francisco Ruiz name was not only well established, but so much so that like Tomas Ayala, it was often used spuriously on German blades. Perhaps that has also lent to the use of this renowned name on a number of more modern productions.

What seems notable is the uneven character of the letters in the inscription and the curious use of the letter Z in Francisco, which seems atypical.
As Fernando notes, it would seem that in an early blade, by either Francisco Ruiz the elder, or the younger for that matter, would have the appropriate punzone at the forte.
What is there instead, is a crescent, of a form more in character with such stamps in pommel or hilt elements, but I presume this is to allude to the use of the crescent by Spanish makers Del Rey.

It would not seem unusual to find a Spanish blade in the Netherlands and in a German style hilt as this was of course a Spanish province from the late 16th into 18th c. Going back to the inscription, I have been under the impression that in Solingen stamped lettering was 'racked', thus in groups so as to ensure more evenly and uniform lettering. That is why this one seems so unusual and unevenly applied. If this sword was a German product of 17th century, it seems the inscription and a punzone (even if not correct as was the case with the Stantlers in Munich in their use) .

13th February 2017, 05:46 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,295	Totally with Fernando re: Jasper........expertise is the word!!! I am intrigued by the unusual motif in this rapier hilt, and tried to find something comparable but my resources seem disturbingly limited and nothing close. I am curious on the inscription in the blade, and it seems the Francisco Ruiz name was not only well established, but so much so that like Tomas Ayala, it was often used spuriously on German blades. Perhaps that has also lent to the use of this renowned name on a number of more modern productions. What seems notable is the uneven character of the letters in the inscription and the curious use of the letter Z in Francisco, which seems atypical. As Fernando notes, it would seem that in an early blade, by either Francisco Ruiz the elder, or the younger for that matter, would have the appropriate punzone at the forte. What is there instead, is a crescent, of a form more in character with such stamps in pommel or hilt elements, but I presume this is to allude to the use of the crescent by Spanish makers Del Rey. It would not seem unusual to find a Spanish blade in the Netherlands and in a German style hilt as this was of course a Spanish province from the late 16th into 18th c. Going back to the inscription, I have been under the impression that in Solingen stamped lettering was 'racked', thus in groups so as to ensure more evenly and uniform lettering. That is why this one seems so unusual and unevenly applied. If this sword was a German product of 17th century, it seems the inscription and a punzone (even if not correct as was the case with the Stantlers in Munich in their use) .