The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

Partisan

c. 1650

France, 17th century

Steel; round wood haft

Blade: 33 cm (13 in.); Haft: 100.5 cm (39 9/16 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.31

Location

210A Armor Court

Fun Fact

The ceremonial use of staff weapons continues to this day by the Swiss Guards at the Vatican.

Description

The partisan, a staff weapon with a symmetrical head, was carried by infantry officers and members of princely bodyguards during the 1600s and 1700s.

Provenance
-1916
Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 167, cat. no. 95
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 188, cat. no. 118
Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. No. 366
Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mention: p. 205, H74; Reproduced: Plate XLIV, H74 archive.org
Exhibition history

Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.31