A COMPOSITE SWEPT-HILT RAPIER with tapering double-edged blade (pitted) with wide central fuller on each face of the forte and with a little punched decoration (rubbed), the ricasso cut-out for the forefinger and struck with the mark of a serpent, iron hilt comprising guard of slender chamfered bars with vertically recurved quillons with triangular tips, the front one forming the knuckle-guard, the latter linked on the outside by a curved bar to a triple ring-guard, linking the tips of the large arms, the innermost ring framing a plate with numerous quatrefoil piercings, on the inside a curved bar dividing into four linking the arms and knuckle-guard, globular pommel, and leather-covered grip, early 17th Century