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Conservation Status: After Treatment
Crossbow Bolt
Conservation Status: After Treatment
Image © 2020 Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Crossbow Bolt

Dateearly 1500s
Mediumsteel, wood and leather
Dimensions2.5 oz (weight) 36.5cm

ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.686.5
DescriptionBolt head attached to a wooden shaft with remains of leather vanes or flights. Steel pitted and scratched with heavy loss around the seam. Shaft worn, especially at nock end. One vane partially intact, the other lacking. 2 grooves at rear.
Label TextBody armor was ultimately made obsolete by gunpowder, but already in the Middle Ages it faced a serious threat from crossbows. Like firearms, crossbows were simple “point-and-shoot” weapons that could be used by soldiers with very little training. These crossbow bolts have stout heads to help them pierce armor.ProvenancePurchased by the Museum on June 5, 1930 from Ernst Schmidt, Munich, Germany. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on view
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
German
mid 1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
European
1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
European
1500s
Conservation Status: After Treatment
German
early 1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
European
1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
German
mid 1500s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
European
1500s