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Hunting Sword
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
No gentleman's hunting costume was complete without a hunting sword. These special sidearms, designed primarily as defense against dangerous game in the field, were also used to dispatch game at the end of a chase. It was a point of honor among aristocratic hunters to carve and section the game in the field, a further function for which these swords were well suited. They were often made as a set, or garniture, and included smaller knives, forks, and other implements for carving the carcass.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHunting Sword, c. 1760–70. Netherlands. Steel; pierced and chiseled cast-iron hilt ; blade engraved; overall: 65 cm (25 9/16 in.); blade: 52.9 cm (20 13/16 in.); quillions: 8.9 cm (3 1/2 in.); grip: 11.6 cm (4 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.1686
