Small Sword (c. 1770–80): Art, History and Details

Small Sword (c. 1770–80) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

During the 1700s, the small-sword emerged as a light, quick weapon. Like the rapier it was carried by unarmored civilians, the noblemen of the upper classes. Over time this delicate sword became more an accessory of male attire than a weapon essential to life and death. The sword hilt, which shows even when the blade is sheathed, became the ground for elaborate decoration. These small-swords thus represent the final stage in the evolution of the sword, from the edged weapons of antiquity to the elegantly refined blades of the 1700s and 1800s.

Object facts

• Title: Small Sword
• Date: c. 1770–80
• Culture: France
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel; chiseled relief decoration; blade engraved; wire grip
• Dimensions: Overall: 97 cm (38 3/16 in.); Blade: 79.2 cm (31 3/16 in.); Grip: 13.8 cm (5 7/16 in.); Guard: 7.6 cm (3 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1484

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.