Hilt from a Court Sword (c. 1790–1800): Art, History and Details

Hilt from a Court Sword (c. 1790–1800) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The entire hilt is made of polished steel, with faceted steel beads of different sizes arranged in rows and rosettes to give the impression of a "jeweled" hilt. This was an object of great luxury to be worn only with a gentleman's formal attire at court.

Object facts

• Title: Hilt from a Court Sword
• Date: c. 1790–1800
• Culture: England, late 18th Century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: polished steel, pierced and inset with faceted steel beads
• Dimensions: Overall: 18.4 cm (7 1/4 in.); Guard: 9.7 cm (3 13/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1923.1061

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.

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.