{"data": {"id": 147959, "accession_number": "1974.57", "share_license_status": "CC0", "tombstone": "Small Sword, c. 1780. France, Paris (?), 18th century. Forged steel blade; partially gilt and russet steel hilt; steel wire, leather bands, wood core; overall: 103.5 cm (40 3/4 in.); blade: 86.1 cm (33 7/8 in.); guard: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift from the Bascom Little Estate, 1974.57", "current_location": "210A Armor Court", "title": "Small Sword", "creation_date": "c. 1780", "creation_date_earliest": 1775, "creation_date_latest": 1785, "artists_tags": [], "culture": ["France, Paris (?), 18th century"], "technique": "forged steel blade; partially gilt and russet steel hilt; steel wire, leather bands, wood core", "support_materials": [], "department": "Medieval Art", "collection": "MED - Arms & Armor", "type": "Arms and Armor", "measurements": "Overall: 103.5 cm (40 3/4 in.); Blade: 86.1 cm (33 7/8 in.); Guard: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.)", "dimensions": {"overall": {"length": 1.035, "length_inch": 40, "length_inch_fraction": 0.75}, "blade": {"length": 0.861, "length_inch": 33, "length_inch_fraction": 0.875}, "guard": {"width": 0.083, "width_inch": 3, "width_inch_fraction": 0.25}}, "state_of_the_work": null, "edition_of_the_work": null, "copyright": null, "inscriptions": [], "exhibitions": {"current": [{"id": 302084, "title": "Year in Review: 1974", "description": "<i>Year in Review: 1974</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).", "opening_date": "1975-03-11T04:00:00"}, {"id": 190103, "title": "Armor Court Reinstallation", "description": "<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).", "opening_date": "1998-09-10T00:00:00"}], "legacy": []}, "provenance": [{"description": "The Bascom Little Estate, Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art", "citations": [], "footnotes": [], "date": "?-1974", "sortorder": 1}, {"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH", "citations": [], "footnotes": [], "date": "1974-", "sortorder": 2}], "find_spot": null, "related_works": [], "former_accession_numbers": ["1022.16"], "did_you_know": "The fashion among gentleman for wearing small-swords with everyday attire began to wane by the end of the 1700s with the exception of the military dress sword.", "early_education_description": null, "artlens_description": null, "description": "During the 1700s, the small-sword emerged as a light, quick weapon. Like the rapier it was carried by unarmored civilians, the noblemen of the upper classes. Over time this delicate sword became more an accessory of male attire than a weapon essential to life and death. The sword hilt, which shows even when the blade is sheathed, became the ground for elaborate decoration. These small-swords thus represent the final stage in the evolution of the sword, from the edged weapons of antiquity to the elegantly refined blades of the 1700s and 1800s.", "external_resources": {"wikidata": ["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60740055"], "internet_archive": ["https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1974.57-small-sword"]}, "citations": [{"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. \"The Year in Review for 1974.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 62, no. 3 (1975).", "page_number": "p. 98, cat. no. 42", "url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25152580"}, {"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [</em>Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.", "page_number": "pp. 121, 172; cat. no. 199", "url": null}, {"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.", "page_number": "cat. no. 200, p. 192.", "url": null}], "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.57", "images": {"annotation": null, "web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_web.jpg", "width": "688", "height": "900", "filesize": "", "filename": "1974.57_web.jpg"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_print.jpg", "width": "2599", "height": "3400", "filesize": "", "filename": "1974.57_print.jpg"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_full.tif", "width": "3665", "height": "4795", "filesize": "", "filename": "1974.57_full.tif"}}, "alternate_images": [{"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt0_web.jpg", "width": "1130", "height": "893", "filesize": "696738"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt0_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2688", "filesize": "5734069"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt0_full.tif", "width": "5000", "height": "3953", "filesize": "59335720"}, "date_created": "2007-04-30T19:14:16", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt1_web.jpg", "width": "900", "height": "716", "filesize": ""}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt1_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2706", "filesize": ""}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt1_full.tif", "width": "5491", "height": "4370", "filesize": ""}, "date_created": "2007-04-30T19:14:16", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt2_web.jpg", "width": "1248", "height": "893", "filesize": "762928"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt2_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2433", "filesize": "5337326"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt2_full.tif", "width": "5000", "height": "3578", "filesize": "53697372"}, "date_created": "2007-04-30T19:48:43", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt3_web.jpg", "width": "900", "height": "719", "filesize": ""}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt3_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2715", "filesize": ""}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt3_full.tif", "width": "5540", "height": "4424", "filesize": ""}, "date_created": "2007-04-30T19:48:43", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt4_web.jpg", "width": "682", "height": "893", "filesize": "307661"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt4_print.jpg", "width": "1536", "height": "2010", "filesize": "1774342"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt4_full.tif", "width": "1536", "height": "2010", "filesize": "9265476"}, "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt5_web.jpg", "width": "1130", "height": "893", "filesize": "703640"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt5_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2688", "filesize": "5503586"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt5_full.tif", "width": "5000", "height": "3953", "filesize": "59326804"}, "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt6_web.jpg", "width": "1248", "height": "893", "filesize": "758043"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt6_print.jpg", "width": "3400", "height": "2433", "filesize": "5030352"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.57/1974.57_alt6_full.tif", "width": "5000", "height": "3578", "filesize": "53698804"}, "annotation": ""}], "creditline": "Gift from the Bascom Little Estate", "image_credit": null, "sketchfab_id": null, "sketchfab_url": null, "gallery_donor_text": null, "athena_id": 147959, "creators": [], "legal_status": "accessioned", "accession_date": "1974-05-21T00:00:00", "sortable_date": 1775, "date_added_to_oa": null, "date_text": "c. 1780", "collapse_artists": false, "on_loan": false, "recently_acquired": false, "record_type": "object", "conservation_statement": null, "has_conservation_images": false, "cover_accession_number": null, "is_nazi_era_provenance": false, "impression": null, "alternate_titles": [], "is_highlight": false, "updated_at": "2026-05-29 07:36:05.476000"}}