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The "pillow-sword" is so-named because of where it was kept. A sword like this one, with a straight blade and relatively simple hilt, would have been suspended above a headboard within arm's reach for bedside defense should an intruder attack while the household was asleep and vulnerable.
Page data
- Page
- 1
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 03f5ccb981236ddf
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 95807
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "95807",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Pillow Sword",
"description": "The \"pillow-sword\" is so-named because of where it was kept. A sword like this one, with a straight blade and relatively simple hilt, would have been suspended above a headboard within arm's reach for bedside defense should an intruder attack while the household was asleep and vulnerable.",
"date": "c. 1650",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1495",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60762489"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Arms and Armor"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 93 cm (36 5/8 in.); Blade: 77.8 cm (30 5/8 in.); Quillions: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)",
"cul": [
"Italy, 17th century"
],
"accession": "1916.1495"
}
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Document identity
{
"localId": "95807",
"label": "Pillow Sword",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "95807",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Pillow Sword",
"description": "The \"pillow-sword\" is so-named because of where it was kept. A sword like this one, with a straight blade and relatively simple hilt, would have been suspended above a headboard within arm's reach for bedside defense should an intruder attack while the household was asleep and vulnerable.",
"date": "c. 1650",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1495",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60762489"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Arms and Armor"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 93 cm (36 5/8 in.); Blade: 77.8 cm (30 5/8 in.); Quillions: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)",
"cul": [
"Italy, 17th century"
],
"accession": "1916.1495"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "steel, pierced; leather and wood",
"tombstone": "Pillow Sword, c. 1650. Italy, 17th century. Steel, pierced; leather and wood; overall: 93 cm (36 5/8 in.); blade: 77.8 cm (30 5/8 in.); quillions: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, 1916.1495",
"collection": "MED - Arms & Armor",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "<em>Catalogue of Arms and Armour.</em> Vol. 2, <em>16th century. </em>[Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (81) 83",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CatArmsArmour2_201602/page/n322"
},
{
"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. 115, E66",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/SeveranceCollection1924/page/n176"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1495",
"creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance",
"galleryDonorText": "Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Armor Court",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:09:03.205000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1495/1916.1495_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 95807,
"dept": "Medieval Art",
"coll": "MED - Arms & Armor",
"med": "steel, pierced; leather and wood",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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}