{
"data": {
"id": 95330,
"accession_number": "1916.1097",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Smallsword, c. 1730. France, Paris. Steel, blued, with gold encrusted decoration; chased and engraved; silver wire; overall: 94.5 cm (37 3/16 in.); blade: 77.2 cm (30 3/8 in.); grip: 13.2 cm (5 3/16 in.); guard: 8 cm (3 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.1097",
"current_location": "210A Armor Court",
"title": "Smallsword",
"creation_date": "c. 1730",
"creation_date_earliest": 1725,
"creation_date_latest": 1735,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"France, Paris"
],
"technique": "steel, blued, with gold encrusted decoration; chased and engraved; silver wire",
"support_materials": [
{
"description": "gilt and blued shell",
"watermarks": []
}
],
"department": "Medieval Art",
"collection": "MED - Arms & Armor",
"type": "Arms and Armor",
"measurements": "Overall: 94.5 cm (37 3/16 in.); Blade: 77.2 cm (30 3/8 in.); Grip: 13.2 cm (5 3/16 in.); Guard: 8 cm (3 1/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"length": 0.945,
"length_inch": 37,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.1875
},
"blade": {
"length": 0.772,
"length_inch": 30,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.375
},
"grip": {
"length": 0.132,
"length_inch": 5,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.1875
},
"guard": {
"width": 0.08,
"width_inch": 3,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.125
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 190103,
"title": "Armor Court Reinstallation",
"description": "Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).",
"opening_date": "1998-09-10T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "?-1916",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1916-",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The decorative design of the hilt was often carried down onto the blade, which could be chased or etched with designs, and gilded or blued as seen here.",
"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/Q60756326"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1916.1097-smallsword"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.",
"page_number": "cat. no. 494",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour1/page/n219/mode/2up"
},
{
"citation": "Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 135, E111",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n204"
},
{
"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.",
"page_number": "pp. 118, 169; cat. no. 142",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.",
"page_number": "cat. no. 194, p. 192",
"url": null
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1097",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_web.jpg",
"width": "540",
"height": "900",
"filesize": "",
"filename": "1916.1097_web.jpg"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_print.jpg",
"width": "2039",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "",
"filename": "1916.1097_print.jpg"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_full.tif",
"width": "3156",
"height": "5263",
"filesize": "",
"filename": "1916.1097_full.tif"
}
},
"alternate_images": [
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt0_web.jpg",
"width": "658",
"height": "900",
"filesize": ""
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt0_print.jpg",
"width": "2487",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": ""
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt0_full.tif",
"width": "3422",
"height": "4678",
"filesize": ""
},
"date_created": "2020-04-13T13:36:55",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt1_web.jpg",
"width": "533",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "211866"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt1_print.jpg",
"width": "2030",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "3364764"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt1_full.tif",
"width": "2986",
"height": "5000",
"filesize": "44822572"
},
"date_created": "2007-04-26T16:33:09",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt2_web.jpg",
"width": "702",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "243525"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt2_print.jpg",
"width": "2674",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "3897691"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt2_full.tif",
"width": "3932",
"height": "5000",
"filesize": "59001800"
},
"date_created": "2007-04-26T16:33:09",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt3_web.jpg",
"width": "711",
"height": "900",
"filesize": ""
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt3_print.jpg",
"width": "2687",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": ""
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt3_full.tif",
"width": "4364",
"height": "5522",
"filesize": ""
},
"date_created": "2007-04-26T16:33:09",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt4_web.jpg",
"width": "533",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "204032"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt4_print.jpg",
"width": "2030",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "3157098"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt4_full.tif",
"width": "2986",
"height": "5000",
"filesize": "44810180"
},
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt5_web.jpg",
"width": "702",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "261612"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt5_print.jpg",
"width": "2674",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "4020085"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1097/1916.1097_alt5_full.tif",
"width": "3932",
"height": "5000",
"filesize": "59000180"
},
"annotation": ""
}
],
"creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 95330,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1916-04-10T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1725,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1730",
"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": [
"Court Sword"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-29 05:06:43.344000"
}
}