Collection record · Objects & craft
Court Sword
The collection record classifies this work as arms and armor. It is dated c. 1790. Recorded culture or place: England, London or Birmingham, late 18th Century.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Court Sword
- Date
- c. 1790
- Culture / origin
- England, London or Birmingham, late 18th Century
- Materials and technique
- steel; silver hilt, polished and faceted; blade partially blued and gilded
- Dimensions
- Overall: 99.7 cm (39 1/4 in.); Blade: 82.9 cm (32 5/8 in.); Guard: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1916.1095
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
The hilt of this sword is finely finished with cut or faceted steel burnished to resemble cut stones. The neoclassical urn shape of the pommel was especially fashionable in England after 1780 up to the turn of the century. The upper portion of this blade is blued and gilded to provide a feel of great luxury. By the end of the 1700s, civilians no longer regularly wore swords nor used them as weapons. The court sword (or "small" sword as it was known in England) had become a piece of costume jewelry to be worn only with court dress or by military officers in dress uniform. The hilt and often the upper part of the blade became lavishly decorated as is illustrated by this example.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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