Cleveland Museum of Art

Basket-Hilt Broadsword ("Mortuary Sword")

Date

hilt: c. 1640–50; blade: 1700s

Medium

steel, chiseled; inlaid gilt- silver foil; wood and wire grip

Culture

Hilt: England; Blade: Germany, Solingen (?), Hilt: 17th Century; Blade: 18th Century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The decoration on this sword's hilt includes an image of King Charles I of England (beheaded in 1649). Because the image resembles the king's death mask, this sword is known as a "mortuary sword." It may have belonged to Sir Thomas Fairfax, a general of the Parliamentary cavalry during the English Civil War (1642-51). Large, double-edged broadswords, designed for heavy cavalry use, were common from the 1600s through the 1800s. The ornate basket hilt which protects the hand, is chiseled with leafy decorative scrollwork and grotesque masks.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.