Two Continental Basket-Handled Rapiers

one example having a relief worked basket depicting foliate scrolls, crowns and fleur-de-lis, the other with a plain basket. Length of longer 43 1/2 inches. Property from the Kiran Stordalen Trust, Osceola, Wisconsin About Kiran Stordalen and Horst M. Rechelbacher: A pioneer in plant-based personal care and aromatherapy, Horst M. Rechelbacher was a committed environmentalist who changed the world of beauty. As a dynamic entrepreneur, he excelled in several lifetimes of pursuits including artist, organic farmer, author, speaker and passionate collector. Born during WWII in Klagenfurt, Austria, Horst worked from the age of 14 in a small neighborhood salon. Undiagnosed dyslexia pushed him to become a creative thinker with a unique perspective for problem solving, leading him to become a hairdresser's apprentice. Throughout the 1950s he won countless Junior Hairdressing Championships in Europe, followed by international awards that brought him to New York, Chicago and Minneapolis in his early twenties. After a traumatic car accident in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Horst opened a salon to pay accrued hospital bills. One salon soon became three. In tandem, Horst saw the opportunity to educate stylists on the skill and artistry of hairdressing and the importance of customer service. He created his own apprentice program that later evolved into the Horst Educational Center. Extensive traveling in India during the early 1970s exposed Horst to plant medicines, the potency of pure essential Read more…