Barbed Spear (before 1922): Art, History and Details

Barbed Spear (before 1922) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This forged iron spearhead features a long central blade and multiple paired barbs tapering in a tree-like silhouette. Its stepped barbed form aligns with spears documented in Eastern Lepanto and Northern Nueva Vizcaya.

Object facts

• Title: Barbed Spear
• Date: before 1922
• Culture: Philippines, Northern Luzon, Ifugao, likely Lepanto area
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: Metal
• Dimensions: Overall: 172.7 cm (68 in.); Blade: 35 cm (13 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1922.27

A detail from the museum

This object most likely originated among the Igorot people, but similar spearheads are documented across the Philippine archipelago.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Donahey

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.