The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Two-Handed Sword with Flamboyant Blade

Two-Handed Sword with Flamboyant Blade

1550–1600
Overall: 168.9 cm (66 1/2 in.); Blade: 118.7 cm (46 3/4 in.); Quillions: 50.5 cm (19 7/8 in.); Grip: 49.2 cm (19 3/8 in.); Ricasso: 26.7 cm (10 1/2 in.)

Description

The two-handed sword, originally a weapon of war for specialist infantry, is so named because two hands were required to wield it. By the late 1600s, these enormous swords assumed a largely ceremonial or bodyguard function.
  • Frank Gair Macomber; Boston; Theodore Offerman; (sale February 1919); cat.# 434.
  • 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. 98-99, E33; Reproduced: Plate XXIV, E33 archive.org
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (09/10/1998); "Armor Court Reinstallation"
  • {{cite web|title=Two-Handed Sword with Flamboyant Blade|url=false|author=|year=1550–1600|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.71