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Source Description
For parrying, rapiers were often made with accompanying daggers as a matched set, although the rapier shown here (1916.1810) does not originally belong to this dagger. Daggers such as this one have been misleadingly called "left-handed daggers" even though they could be held in either hand. The guard is richly decorated with chiseled and pierced arabesques, an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
97044
label
Left-Handed Dagger or "Main Gauche"
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
97044
contentType
object
title
Left-Handed Dagger or "Main Gauche"
description
For parrying, rapiers were often made with accompanying daggers as a matched set, although the rapier shown here (1916.1810) does not originally belong to this dagger. Daggers such as this one have been misleadingly called "left-handed daggers" even though they could be held in either hand. The guard is richly decorated with chiseled and pierced arabesques, an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines.
date
c. 1650
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60760638
genreSpecific
Arms and Armor
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 57.2 cm (22 1/2 in.); Blade: 44.4 cm (17 1/2 in.); Quillions: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
cul
Spain or Italy, Naples
accession
1916.699
Source extras
tec
steel, pierced and chiseled
tombstone
Left-Handed Dagger or "Main Gauche", c. 1650. Spain or Italy, Naples. Steel, pierced and chiseled; overall: 57.2 cm (22 1/2 in.); blade: 44.4 cm (17 1/2 in.); quillions: 25.4 cm (10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.699
supportMaterials
description
pierced and chiseled
collection
MED - Arms & Armor
didYouKnow
The main-gauche (French for "left hand") was used mainly to assist in defense by parrying enemy thrusts, while the dominant hand wielded a rapier.
citations
citation
<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour</em>. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
page_number
cat. no. 427.
citation
Gilchrist, Helen Ives. <em>A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & 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. 225-226, I44; Reproduced: Plate XLVI, I44
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N.<em> Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
page_number
pp. 115, 169; cat. no. 131
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 38 no. 07, September
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: cover
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page_number
cat. no. 159, p. 190
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:13:39.984000
sourceId
97044
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Arms & Armor
med
steel, pierced and chiseled
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
f095382f7471df49