The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword")

Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword")

hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s
(?)
steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip
Overall: 101.6 cm (40 in.); Blade: 85.2 cm (33 9/16 in.); Hilt: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.696
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

The ornate basket hilt which protects the hand, is chiseled with leafy decorative scrollwork and grotesque masks.

Description

The decoration on this sword's hilt includes an image of King Charles I of England (beheaded in 1649). Because the image resembles the king's death mask, this sword is known as a "mortuary sword." It may have belonged to Sir Thomas Fairfax, a general of the Parliamentary cavalry during the English Civil War (1642-51). Large, double-edged broadswords, designed for heavy cavalry use, were common from the 1600s through the 1800s.
  • Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671), Yorkshire, England (purportedly)
    Sir Cuthbert Sharp (1781-1849), Newcastle, England
    Prince Augustus Frederick (1773-1843), Duke of Sussex, England
    George Francis William Henry Denison (1892-1920), Earl of Londesborough, England
    Edwin J. Brett (1828-1895), London, England
    S.J. Whawell (1871-1899), London, England
    ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915]. Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (211) 230 archive.org
    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. Mentioned: p. 121-122, E79; Reproduced: Plate XXX, E79 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948. Reproduction: p. 40 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 105; cat. no. 128, p. 168
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 166, p. 190
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword")|url=false|author=|year=hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.696