id: 96097
accession number: 1916.1835
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1835
updated: 2023-03-03 07:01:12.296000
Bill, c. 1480. Italy, 15th century. Steel, wood haft; overall: 184.8 cm (72 3/4 in.); blade: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1835
title: Bill
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1480
creation date earliest: 1475
creation date latest: 1485
current location: 210A Armor Court
creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
copyright:
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culture: Italy, 15th century
technique: steel, wood haft
department: Medieval Art
collection: MED - Arms & Armor
type: Arms and Armor
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 184.8 cm (72 3/4 in.); Blade: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Armor Court Reinstallation
opening date: 1998-09-10T00:00:00
Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
title: The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible
opening date: 2002-10-27T00:00:00
The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 27-December 29, 2002).
title: Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2007-05-10T00:00:00
Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1916
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1916-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
With its long shaft, the bill was useful for reaching mounted men, and a military version soon emerged.
digital description:
wall description:
This weapon known as the "bill" was developed from an agricultural tool and was one of the first staff weapons to be used by medieval infantries. Used throughout Western Europe, it was particularly popular in Italy and England where it served as an equivalent to the Central European halberd. Fitted with a pronounced hook whose inside and outside curves were cutting edges, it was topped by a long spike.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
page number: cat. no. 373
url: https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour1/page/n219/mode/2up
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. 181-182, H3; Reproduced: Plate XL, H3
url: https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n261
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948.
page number: Reproduction: p. 44
url: https://archive.org/details/HandbookArmsArmor1948/page/n51
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
page number: pp. 126, 168; cat. no. 117
url:
Louis, William Noel, and Daniel H. Weiss. The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2002.
page number: exh. cat. #33, fig. 8, pp. 94, 189
url:
Shafroth, Frank. "Deep Cuts: The Crisis in State Funding." American Association of Museums. Museum News 82 (July 2003).
page number: no. 4. p. 34.
url:
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page number:
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page number:
url:
Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. Mùˆnchen: Hirmer, 2007.
page number: p. 28-1, no. 105
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1835/1916.1835_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1835/1916.1835_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1835/1916.1835_full.tif