Cleveland Museum of Art

Hunting Sword

Date

c. 1760–70

Medium

steel; pierced and chiseled cast-iron hilt ; blade engraved

Culture

Netherlands

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

No gentleman's hunting costume was complete without a hunting sword. These special sidearms, designed primarily as defense against dangerous game in the field, were also used to dispatch game at the end of a chase. It was a point of honor among aristocratic hunters to carve and section the game in the field, a further function for which these swords were well suited. They were often made as a set, or garniture, and included smaller knives, forks, and other implements for carving the carcass. Besides being viewed as a recreation for European nobility and an ancient and hereditary right, hunting was recognized as a necessary and pragmatic skill which supplied an additional source of food and dispatched animals which were considered a menace.

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