Small Sword (c.1750–60): Art, History and Details

Small Sword (c.1750–60) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755).

The work and its context

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

The hilt, pommel, and guard of this sword are richly chiseled in low relief against a stippled gold background with animals (dogs, a stag, ducks) that appear to be adapted from paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1775). An elegant court sword such as this was an important accessory to a gentleman's attire, yet remained functional—it could be withdrawn for an impromptu duel.

Object facts

• Title: Small Sword
• Date: c.1750–60
• Creator attribution: Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755)
• Culture: France, Paris
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel, gilt and russeted, copper, wood
• Dimensions: Overall: 105.4 cm (41 1/2 in.); Blade: 87.9 cm (34 5/8 in.); Guard: 7.9 cm (3 1/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1094

A detail from the museum

Although fully functional, this sword was used more for show—a perfect accessory for a fashionable gentleman having his portrait painted.

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.