Court Sword
Unknown Artist
c. 1790
Medium
steel; silver hilt, polished and faceted; blade partially blued and gilded
Dimensions
l. 99.7 cm · blade: l. 82.9 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
Accession Number
1916.1095
About this artwork
The hilt of this sword is finely finished with cut or faceted steel burnished to resemble cut stones. The neoclassical urn shape of the pommel was especially fashionable in England after 1780 up to the turn of the century. The upper portion of this blade is blued and gilded to provide a feel of great luxury. By the end of the 1700s, civilians no longer regularly wore swords nor used them as weapons. The court sword (or "small" sword as it was known in England) had become a piece of costume jewel...