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The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.
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- 1
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- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- d12f76b34fcc2cd0
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 99441
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "99441",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)",
"description": "The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.",
"date": "600s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1919.1014",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60762889"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Arms and Armor"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"cul": [
"Frankish, Champagne(?), Migration period, 7th century"
],
"accession": "1919.1014"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "99441",
"label": "Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "99441",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)",
"description": "The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.",
"date": "600s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1919.1014",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60762889"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Arms and Armor"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"cul": [
"Frankish, Champagne(?), Migration period, 7th century"
],
"accession": "1919.1014"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "iron, copper, and gold foil",
"tombstone": "Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax), 600s. Frankish, Champagne(?), Migration period, 7th century. Iron, copper, and gold foil. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1919.1014",
"collection": "MED - Migration Period",
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "guard decorated with two bands of gold filigree between which is a thin band of plain gold with an embossed inscription."
}
],
"findSpot": "Said to have been found at Croanne (Champagne)",
"formerAccessionNumbers": [
"1915.331",
"475.1919"
],
"didYouKnow": "Known as a s<em>cramasax, s</em>eax means knife in Old English.",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.",
"page_number": "p. 37"
},
{
"citation": "Effros, Bonnie \"Art of the 'Dark Ages:' Showing Merovingian artifacts in North American public and private collections.\" <em>Journal of the History of Collections</em> 17 no. I (2005).",
"page_number": "pp. 85-113, fig. 17"
},
{
"citation": "Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.",
"page_number": "p. 47"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1919.1014",
"creditline": "Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:22:16.488000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 99441,
"dept": "Medieval Art",
"coll": "MED - Migration Period",
"med": "iron, copper, and gold foil",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
"seq": 1,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1919.1014/1919.1014_web.jpg",
"mediaId": "d12f76b34fcc2cd0"
}