The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 13, 2024

Bill

Bill

c. 1480
steel, wood haft
Overall: 184.8 cm (72 3/4 in.); Blade: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1835
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

With its long shaft, the bill was useful for reaching mounted men, and a military version soon emerged.

Description

This weapon known as the "bill" was developed from an agricultural tool and was one of the first staff weapons to be used by medieval infantries. Used throughout Western Europe, it was particularly popular in Italy and England where it served as an equivalent to the Central European halberd. Fitted with a pronounced hook whose inside and outside curves were cutting edges, it was topped by a long spike.
  • ?-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. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. no. 373 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. 181-182, H3; Reproduced: Plate XL, H3 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948. Reproduction: p. 44 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 126, 168; cat. no. 117
    Louis, William Noel, and Daniel H. Weiss. The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2002. exh. cat. #33, fig. 8, pp. 94, 189
    Shafroth, Frank. "Deep Cuts: The Crisis in State Funding." American Association of Museums. Museum News 82 (July 2003). no. 4. p. 34.
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
    Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. Mùˆnchen: Hirmer, 2007. p. 28-1, no. 105
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).
    The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 27-December 29, 2002).
    Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Bill|url=false|author=|year=c. 1480|access-date=13 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1835