Cleveland Museum of Art

Rapier

Clemens Horn

Date

c. 1620–30

Medium

steel, blued and gilded

Culture

Germany, Solingen, 17th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This weapon has an especially handsome configuration of hilt, pommel, quillons, and guard. The blade is also very finely wrought and bears the mark (a unicorn head) of the German swordsmith, Clemens Horn, of Solingen, a town near Düsseldorf. The Latin inscription on the blade reads in translation: "Neither without cause, nor fearfully/Between arms and silent law/ Prize truth and the fight for one's country." The "Pappenheimer" hilt seen here is named after Count Pappenheimer (1594-1632) who popularized the style which offered more protection to the hand with its large pierced plates.

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