∴ A Bittersweet Thrill ∴

You kick absently at the grey slate wall, as anxious and impatient and full of desire as you ever are when you wait here. It is the furthest border of her father’s lands – the nearest you dare go, or at least the nearest she’ll have you. Sometimes she is already here when you arrive, impatient and impassioned. Other times you wait for hours before trailing forlornly home in the dark.

Over the course of the summer you’ve grown achingly familiar with the slick grey of the stone, the heart-shaped leaves and five-petalled blooms of the woody nightshade that climbs it. Bittersweet, your mother always called it, and warned you not to be tempted by its pretty red fruit.

You look down again at the sword and venture a little smile. You’ve been saving for months, and at last here it is, steely and sturdy and yours, emblazoned with the familiar five petals of the passion-hued bloom whose bower became your heaven. You asked for that especially, so that every duel would be won in her honour. So that nobody would know but the two of you. You can’t wait to show her when she comes. If she comes.

You sigh, and the little purple flowers nod in the breeze.

∴ Specs ∴

Adapted from the Wallace Collection’s A644 rapier, this elegant pappenheimer style rapier features diamond-section S-shaped quillons with riband terminals, a carved knuckleguard, and pierced plates to both the ring of the foreguard and the swept of the counterguard.

The elaborate piercework features the five-petalled likeness of a woody nightshade flower, which is mirrored not only in the carving of the pommel, but in the decor of the accompanying sail dagger.

Lightweight and highly manoeuvrable, this pair will make for elegant sparring and precise drilling.

A similar bespoke sword would start at £1500 plus shipping

A similar bespoke dagger would start at £850 plus shipping

Sword

• Weight: 1020g
• Total length: 120cm
• Blade length: 42″
• Blade width at base: 2.5cm
• Grip length: 8.5cm
• Grip and pommel: 12.5cm
• Quillon span: 23.5cm
• Point of Balance: 14cm
• Blunt edges, rounded tip and sparring-safe flex

Dagger

• Weight: 666g
• Total length: 57cm
• Blade length: 17″
• Grip length: 10cm
• Grip and pommel: 13.5cm
• Quillon span: 22cm
• Point of Balance: 2cm
• Blunt edges, rounded tip and sparring-safe flex

∴ Notes ∴

The hot-forged, heat-treated and hand-carved guards are oil-blackened to a matte finish. The custom-sized hardwood grips are entwined in braided copper and steel wire. The guards of both sword and dagger feature a hand-pierced woody nightshade-inspired lacework design, while the pommels feature carved petals.

∴ Gallery ∴

Looking for a matched set? Get in touch to discuss your ideas.