Rapier

An elegant fashion statement as well as a lethal weapon, this sword is similar to ones found in English aristocratic portraits of the early 17th-century. Its simple form recalls the cross-shaped swords of the middle ages, designed to give weapons the religious overtones of the Christian knight defending the true faith. Silver flowers and leaves match contemporary tastes in clothes as well as arms.

A group of contemporary swords with hilts based on the cross shape vary in appearance, having extra loop-guards, hilt-arms or differently shaped quillons (see Blair, 1974, p. 84). A portait of Sir Edward Pitts, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire and his grandson, dated 1612, depicts a rapier close in form and decoration to the Waddesdon example (with Sabin Galleries, London, in 1967). A sword with a hilt of almost identical form and decoration is kept in the officer's mess, HMS Drake, Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth (see report with images: Tristan Nichols, 'Cutting-edge craftsmanship for Plymouth's Sir Francis Drake', Plymouth Herald, 20 September 2014, posted on www.plymouthherald.co.uk). The blade of that sword probably belonged to Francis Drake (1540-1596), but the hilt may have been added later.

The large hilt pommel is typically English in shape. The silver encrusted decoration of foliage and flowers was used on English cutlery and swords fashionable at the court of King James I (reigned 1603-25). Similar decoration is found on swords supplied by the London-based cutler Robert South (c.1572-1650), personal cutler to the King. South produced a whole range of weapons and accessories for the royal wardrobe. They were often decorated to match each other, complementing the outfit of the owner. The cross shape of the hilt may have been designed to appeal to contemporary interests in medieval chivalry and romance.

The blade does not quite fit the hilt and may not be original. It bears the mark of Christoph I Ständler (d.1601), a Munich-based swordsmith working in the second half of the 16th century. The wooden grip bound with copper ribbon and wire is also a replacement.

Phillippa Plock, 2014