Ask the Scholar

Page 1 of 1
I can add historical knowledge about this page.

Page image

Page 1

Document source 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.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
aa76a2b285210213
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
97041
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "97041",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Basket-Hilt Broadsword (\"Mortuary Sword\")",
    "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.",
    "date": "hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.696",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60761687"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Arms and Armor"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 101.6 cm (40 in.); Blade: 85.2 cm (33 9/16 in.); Hilt: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century"
    ],
    "accession": "1916.696"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "97041",
    "label": "Basket-Hilt Broadsword (\"Mortuary Sword\")",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "97041",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Basket-Hilt Broadsword (\"Mortuary Sword\")",
    "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.",
    "date": "hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.696",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60761687"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Arms and Armor"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 101.6 cm (40 in.); Blade: 85.2 cm (33 9/16 in.); Hilt: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century"
    ],
    "accession": "1916.696"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip",
    "tombstone": "Basket-Hilt Broadsword (\"Mortuary Sword\"), hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s. Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century. 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.696",
    "collection": "MED - Arms & Armor",
    "inscriptions": [
        {
            "inscription": "ANDRIA FERRARA",
            "inscription_remark": "On the blade."
        }
    ],
    "didYouKnow": "The ornate basket hilt which protects the hand, is chiseled with leafy decorative scrollwork and grotesque masks.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. Vol. 4, <em>17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work</em>. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (211) 230",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour4/page/n207"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Gilchrist, Helen Ives. <em>A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms &amp; Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 121-122, E79; Reproduced: Plate XXX, E79",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n185"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. <em>Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor</em>. 2d ed., 1948.",
            "page_number": "Reproduction: p. 40",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/HandbookArmsArmor1948/page/n47"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.",
            "page_number": "p. 105; cat. no. 128, p. 168"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen. \"The Armor Court.\" <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>38, no. 7 (September 1998): 4-7.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 7",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM1998-07/page/4/mode/2up"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms &amp; Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.",
            "page_number": "cat. no. 166, p. 190"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.696",
    "creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:13:42.198000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 97041,
    "dept": "Medieval Art",
    "coll": "MED - Arms & Armor",
    "med": "steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.696/1916.696_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "aa76a2b285210213"
}