Earliest Foyles?

[John_Clements]

I found this and believe this Dussack fechter image may be the earliest known depiction of foyled rapiers. It's from the 1570s, first published in 1578 actually by the Swiss artist Jost Amman. Note the tips of the weapons at his feet.

[Mike Cartier]

That dussack is interesting, does anyone make replicas of it?

[John_Clements]

I think the points here could actually be part of the blade and not a seperate item. Or it could just be a trick of the art. I don't see how you could safely wrap anything that small on a metal point though, so its likely forged and shaped into the blade itself.
BTW, I recently noted that the early 20th century arm curator and fencing writer Forbes Seivking also claimed that Dussacks were of wood. The image here appears to show the tusk as an "insert". Bob Doherty of Woodenweapons.com was working on a new Dussack design that has this feature. I have his reguar Dussack and its the lightest and best designed I have seen.

JC

[John_Clements]

Interesting.

I do know there is at least one steel dussack in an east German museum.

[Guest]

The dussacks shown in Paulus Hector Mair also have an extra guard for the hand or "nagle" that is even more pronounced that that seen in this illustration. I believe the dussacks in Meyer have a similar feature. Mair's dussack also has a longer, more slender blade. It is interesting that the dussack in this illustration seems to be a "half-way" point between the design in Mair versus that in Sutor that came much later. Perhaps this is evidence that the dussack started out as a Messer waster and evolved into a weapon in its own right.

Keith

[John_Clements]

That's what I'm beginning to beleive too.
There are some other illustartions from the early 1500s with still different Dussacks.
I wonder if it has anything to do with making it into a martial sport or reducing the carrying of messers?
But there's also that suggestion it was a flax tool too.

JC