id:			97041
accession number:	1916.696
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.696
updated:		2023-03-03 07:01:17.439000

Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword"), hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s. Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century. Steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip; overall: 101.6 cm (40 in.); blade: 85.2 cm (33 9/16 in.); hilt: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.696

title:				Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword")
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s
creation date earliest:		1635
creation date latest:		1799
current location:		210A Armor Court
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
copyright:			

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culture:	Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century
technique:	steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip
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: 101.6 cm (40 in.); Blade: 85.2 cm (33 9/16 in.); Hilt: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	ANDRIA FERRARA
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Armor Court Reinstallation
	opening date:   1998-09-10T00:00:00
	<i>Armor Court Reinstallation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671), Yorkshire, England (purportedly)
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Sir Cuthbert Sharp (1781-1849), Newcastle, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Prince Augustus Frederick (1773-1843), Duke of Sussex, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	George Francis William Henry Denison (1892-1920), Earl of Londesborough, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Edwin J. Brett (1828-1895), London, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	S.J. Whawell (1871-1899), London, England
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	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:
The ornate basket hilt which protects the hand, is chiseled with leafy decorative scrollwork and grotesque masks.

digital description:


wall description:
The decoration on this sword's hilt includes an image of King Charles I of England (beheaded in 1649). Because the image resembles the king's death mask, this sword is known as a "mortuary sword." It may have belonged to Sir Thomas Fairfax, a general of the Parliamentary cavalry during the English Civil War (1642-51). Large, double-edged broadswords, designed for heavy cavalry use, were common from the 1600s through the 1800s.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. Vol. 4, <em>17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work</em>. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (211) 230
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour4/page/n207

	Gilchrist, Helen Ives. <em>A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms &amp; Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 121-122, E79; Reproduced: Plate XXX, E79
	url:		https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n185

	Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. <em>Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor</em>. 2d ed., 1948.
	page number: 	Reproduction: p. 40
	url:		https://archive.org/details/HandbookArmsArmor1948/page/n47

	Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
	page number: 	p. 105; cat. no. 128, p. 168
	url:		

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
	page number: 	cat. no. 166, p. 190
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_full.tif