Cleveland Museum of Art

Officer's Plug Bayonette

Date

c.1690

Medium

steel serrated blade, brass, and wood

Culture

England, 17th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Used increasingly in warfare during the 1600s, the plug bayonet was inserted into the muzzle of a gun to make a weapon with a long shaft. This eventually made the use of pikemen in warfare obsolete as the new musketeer could now continue after having run out of shots. The owner's or maker's mark on this blade is unidentified.

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