Linstock (c. 1600–1625): Art, History and Details

Linstock (c. 1600–1625) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This specialized staff weapon was used primarily to ignite the charge in pieces of artillery. The two lateral projections ending in eagles' heads are actually clips designed to hold the smoldering matches that allowed the firer to stand a little further from the cannon. The short, leaf-shaped blade allowed the linstock to be used as a weapon if necessary.

Object facts

• Title: Linstock
• Date: c. 1600–1625
• Culture: France
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel; octagonal wood haft covered with green velvet, brass studs
• Dimensions: Overall: 201 cm (79 1/8 in.); Blade: 25.2 cm (9 15/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1786

A detail from the museum

The tapestries and weaponry adorning the walls of the Armor Court are not props. Located near the portrait of Agostino Barbarigo, this linstock hangs to the far right of a grouping of weapons. The blade ends in a double snake design and is attached to a solid wood handle.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
• 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.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.

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.