Collection record · Objects & craft
Corsèque
The collection record classifies this work as arms and armor. It is dated c. 1520. Recorded culture or place: Italy, Venice.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Corsèque
- Date
- c. 1520
- Culture / origin
- Italy, Venice
- Materials and technique
- steel; round wood haft; tassel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 269.2 cm (106 in.); Blade: 36.5 cm (14 3/8 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1916.1535
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
The corsèque is a pole arm with a symmetrical three-pronged head consisting of a central double-edged blade and two sharp, upturned wings. The side blades served several functions: as guard to protect the soldier's hand when a thrust was delivered with the central blade; as a hook for unseating a mounted opponent; and to trip the opponent's horse. The corsèque was used mostly in Italy and France from the 1400s to the early 1600s. The version here is sometimes called a chauve-souris after the French word for "bat," since the side blades are thought to resemble a bat's wings.
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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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