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Fig. 1493. Cup-hilted rapier with its main gauche dagger en suite
The design is cut out of the solid metal. Of Spanish fashion, but Italian workmanship, about 1660. Collection: H.M. the King, Windsor Castle
examples the cup has become even flatter, though still large in circumference, the pommel has dwindled to a small button-like form, the quillons are long, straight, and slender, while the knuckle-guard bows vary greatly (Figs. 1491 and 1492). The edge of the cup is no longer turned over to catch the point of an adversary's weapon, or if it is, it is turned over only to the smallest possible section. More often than not the exterior of the cup is left in the plain burnished steel, occasionally relieved by a little engraving. In the specimens of the finer quality, that circular plate called the guardapolso, which fits within the cup, is often finely chiselled and pierced with radiating or floral ornaments of the best possible workmanship. The guardapolso, fitting as it does within the cup, disguises the ends of the pas-d'ane and
