As promised, here’s my latest addition to the armoury. This is a cup-hilt rapier by Marco Danelli of Danelli Armouries [External Link]. It’s a fairly standard design for him and you can see an older sibling here: [External Link]. However, I have a few difference slight differences from that version, not least that it comes with an off-hand dagger…
A pretty flower arrangement…
Look, it really is a flower shape…
As I’ve mentioned before, rapiers are long swords. This particular model is now officially the longest in my collection with an overall length of 1.25m. It’s even longer than my federschwert. The end has been thickened and blunted to prevent stabbing injuries but I’ll need to put a stopper on, just to be on the safe side – I’ll have to order some more from Darkwood Armory [External Link].
While (also as said before) the rapier is considered an intermediate stage between longsword and smallsword, it has a number of associated complex hilt types. The German Pappenheimer is considered an older type than the cup-hilt, which is generally a Spanish form. This particular rapier is definitely more interested in thrusting attacks than stabbing, unlike the heavier rapier already in my kit.
Can you see the flower now?
Finally, you may notice that the cup-hilt has been cut and shaped rather than just being plain metal. This design is intended to be a flower-shape, a more sober and functional version than the historical rapiers that inspired it. To go with the flower theme, Marco shaped the sail of the parry dagger for me so that it was a bit more reminiscent of a leaf shape.