En Garde!
Explore the Wallace Collection's finest European swords, from the Viking age to the Enlightenment.
Dagger with scabbard (Timurid) Dagger with scabbard (1480/1500) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection showcases a stunning range of European swords, tracing their development from the Viking Age to the Enlightenment.
The Wallace Collection’s oldest weapon is a remarkable Scandinavian sword from the early medieval Viking Age. Designed for battle, its wide blade was perfect for cutting and slashing.
Sword Sword (0900) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
It also features a beautifully proportioned hilt inlaid with silver and copper alloys, delicately hammered into narrow grooves to create scrolling foliage and (now) indecipherable lettering along the cross guard.
The two-handed sword was a more specialized weapon, impractical for mounted combat due to its size, but devastating when wielded on foot.
Detail of Two-handed sword (1450) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
This rare example, dating from before the 16th century, is likely English, with a fish-tail pommel and a straight cross-guard ending in spherical terminals, showcasing a functional yet imposing design for its time.
Crafted for Cosimo I de’ Medici, one of the most powerful princes of the 16th century, this falchion reflects the Renaissance desire to emulate ancient Greek and Roman heroes.
Falchion (Detail) (1620/1660) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
The sword is not only a functional weapon for personal defense and hunting but also a status symbol, with the Medici family’s palle device visible and beautifully sculpted lion’s-head decorations on the guard and pommel.
In the late 16th century, novelty was as much a display of wealth as functionality, and this combination rapier with a built-in wheel-lock pistol epitomizes that desire for conspicuous luxury.
Detail of Combined rapier and wheel-lock pistol (1580/1590) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
The hilt is richly decorated with chiselled reliefs of warriors and gold overlays, while the small-caliber pistol barrel is cleverly integrated into the design, offering a surprising edge in a fight as the blade cut through gun smoke to deliver the final blow.
This sword, crafted by the German smith Clement Horn for Prince Henry of Wales, is a testament to the Jacobean taste for elegance and royal symbolism.
Detail of Sword of Henry, Prince of Wales (1610/1612) by Clement Horn and Possibly Robert South, (hilt)The Wallace Collection
With silver encrusting on the hilt and a blade adorned with the Prince’s monogram and Roman laurel motifs, it reflected the classical ideals of power, nobility, and the promise of a heroic future that Henry embodied before his untimely death at eighteen.
By the early 1700s, the smallsword had replaced the rapier, designed for speed and precision rather than the Renaissance emphasis on distance and angle. This finely crafted sword features a gilt blade etched with a foliate design.
Smallsword with scabbard (Detail) (1730) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
The hilt, intricately chiselled in low relief, personifies the arts and sciences, reflecting the intellectual and cultural ideals of the Age of Enlightenment.
Dagger with scabbard (Timurid) Dagger with scabbard (1480/1500) by UnknownThe Wallace Collection
Continue your journey through history with the Wallace Collection's remarkable collection of swords here.
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