The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Bill

c. 1480

Italy, 15th century

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

Fun Fact

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.

Provenance
?-1916
Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
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
Exhibition history

Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

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).

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).

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