Art Institute of Chicago

Quiver for Crossbow Bolts

German

Date

c. 1480

Medium

Wood, leather, and boar skin

Culture

Ancient Europe

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Used to carry and store crossbow bolts (arrows), very few bolt quivers survive from the fifteenth century. This rare example is covered in the hairy hide of a boar or domestic pig, used as a hard-wearing, water-resistant covering over a wooden core. Much of the stiff bristly hair has now worn off but originally covered the entire quiver. Period paintings and illustrations show what such quivers originally looked like, for example, the crossbowman in the foreground of Christ Carrying the Cross wears one hung from his belt.

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