Two-Handed Sword
Culture
Northern German
Datelate 1500s–early 1600s
Mediumsteel, paint, wood, wool and textile
Dimensions185.4 cm (73 in.), 8 lb, 12 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.281
DescriptionN. German type. Straight double-edged blade of flattened diamond section to point. Long ricasso with short out-turned lugs and incised decoration. Guard like HAM 402 (deaccessioned), but chiseled with leaved foliate tendils on blackened ground. Long cloth-covered wooden grip with green woolen tufts at either end. Squat conical pommel with button, faces carved with repeated scissors-like motif.Label TextSuch oversized swords evolved from the earlier “great” sword and required two hands for use. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, two-handed swords were carried by infantrymen specialized in their use, and employed in battle against the long staffs of weapons such as pikes and halberds. When not in use they were carried over the shoulder in a manner much as are rifles today. By the end of the sixteenth century they became largely ceremonial arms carried in processions.ProvenancePierre Foury (Parisian dealer); George L. Maxwell; purchased by John W. Higgins on November 28, 1928 from Anderson Galleries (NY), lot 121. Given to the Museum on January 8, 1947. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
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