{
"data": {
"id": 95331,
"accession_number": "1916.1099",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Small Sword, 1640\u201360. Germany, Passau (?), 17th century. Steel, wood, steel wire, copper, chiseled shell guard; blade: blued, gilded, pierced and engraved; overall: 104.5 cm (41 1/8 in.); blade: 86 cm (33 7/8 in.); guard: 7.6 cm (3 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.1099",
"current_location": "210A Armor Court",
"title": "Small Sword",
"creation_date": "1640\u201360",
"creation_date_earliest": 1640,
"creation_date_latest": 1660,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Germany, Passau (?), 17th century"
],
"technique": "steel, wood, steel wire, copper, chiseled shell guard; blade: blued, gilded, pierced and engraved",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Medieval Art",
"collection": "MED - Arms & Armor",
"type": "Arms and Armor",
"measurements": "Overall: 104.5 cm (41 1/8 in.); Blade: 86 cm (33 7/8 in.); Guard: 7.6 cm (3 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"length": 1.045,
"length_inch": 41,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.125
},
"blade": {
"length": 0.86,
"length_inch": 33,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.875
},
"guard": {
"width": 0.076,
"width_inch": 3,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0
}
},
"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": [
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art (09/10/1998); \"Armor Court Reinstallation\"",
"opening_date": "1998-09-10T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Frank Gair Macomber; Boston; cat.#221.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "This small sword has a veritable panoply of animal imagery. Men ride horses across the crossguard, the horizontal element closest to the blade, and around the pommel, the globular tip of the handle. Mythical animals feature prominently on the guard, the semi-circular piece that covered the knuckles.",
"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/Q60778553"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1916.1099-small-sword"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Christie, Manson & Woods, London. Choice collection of works of art, mostly of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Mar 8-12, 1898. Lot 268.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 34, lot 268",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/Gurney/page/n38"
},
{
"citation": "Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (221) 240",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour4/page/n268"
},
{
"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. 121, E78; Reproduced: Plate XXIX, E78",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n184"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1099",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1099/1916.1099_web.jpg",
"width": "720",
"height": "900",
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],
"creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 95331,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1916-04-10T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1640,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1640\u201360",
"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 05:06:39.110000"
}
}