The deeply blued steel hilt is set with faceted steel beads, giving the impression of jewels. Beaded steel smallsword hilts, blued to nearly jet black, were in fashion in England during the Neoclassical period and are thought to have been worn with formal dress at times of mourning.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Smallsword, known as a Mourning Sword
Date:ca. 1790
Culture:British
Medium:Steel, textile
Dimensions:L. 38 in. (96.5 cm); L. of blade 30 3/4 in. (78.1 cm); W. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm); D. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm); Wt. 15 oz. (425 g)
Classification:Swords
Credit Line:Gift of Jean Jacques Reubell, in memory of his mother, Julia C. Coster, and of his wife, Adeline E. Post, both of New York City, 1926
Accession Number:26.145.307
Jean-Jacques Reubell, Paris, France (until 1926, his gift to MMA).
Seattle, Wash. Seattle Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11, 1982–June 6, 1982, no. 66.
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 18–October 10, 1982, no. 66.
San Antonio, Tex. Witte Museum of the San Antonio Museum Association. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 13, 1982–February 5, 1983, no. 66.
Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 24–July 31, 1983, no. 66.
San Francisco. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1983–January 28, 1984, no. 66.
Detroit, Mich. Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 4–June 17, 1984, no. 66.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department," October 2, 2012–October 13, 2014.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jewelry: The Body Transformed," November 12, 2018–February 24, 2019.
Dean, Bashford. Catalogue of European Court Swords and Hunting Swords: Including the Ellis, De Dino, Riggs, and Reubell Collections. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. no. 109, pl. LXXX.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helmut Nickel, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Leonid Tarassuk, and American Federation of Arts. The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Exhibition. New York: The Federation, 1982. p, 113, no. 66, ill.
Holcomb, Melanie, ed. Jewelry: The Body Transformed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. pp. 140–43, pl. 112.
Southwick, Leslie. "Thomas Gray of Sackville Street: Royal Retail Jeweller, Goldsmith and Sword-Cutler." Jewellery Studies (2022), p. 6, figs. 5–6.
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