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Court Sword and Scabbard

A work made of silver, gilding, steel, mother-of-pearl, wood, leather, and textile.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of silver, gilding, steel, mother-of-pearl, wood, leather, and textile.

Date:

c. 1810

Artist:

Martin-Guillaume Biennais (French, 1764-1843)
Paris

About this artwork

This court sword, with its heavily gilded silver hilt, mother-of-pearl grip and gold inlayed blade, was intended for presentation to a diplomatic, civic, or military leader for ceremonial wear at court. It represents the final development of the eighteenth civilian smallsword, with its characteristic short blade and downturned kidney-shaped guard—design features meant to make it less inhibiting to wear or less damaging to fine silk clothing.

The reverse side of the guard is engraved with the name and address of Napoleon Bonaparte’s official goldsmith, Martin-Guillaume Biennais of Paris. Biennais was responsible for executing gold and silver table wear, furniture, and even weapons for the Emperor and his court, much of which was designed by the architect Charles Percier. Watercolor drawings attributed to Percier for a nearly-identical hilt design—complete with flanking winged horses, laurel leaves, and other classical ornaments—are preserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. These motifs reference the trappings of the ancient Roman empire to draw allusions to Napoleon and his rule.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Martin-Guillaume Biennais (Maker)

Title

Court Sword and Scabbard

Place

Paris (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1805–1815

Medium

Silver, gilding, steel, mother-of-pearl, wood, leather, and textile

Dimensions

H.: 98 cm (38 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Bessie Bennett Major Acquisitions Endowment Fund; through prior acquisition of the George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

2018.371a-b

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/244009/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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