Cover for a Smallsword Hilt

Santerre

ca. 1780 · Leather, silk, paper, ink · Arms and Armor

Leather bags of this kind were intended as covers to protect the hilts of smallswords, the ubiquitous side-arm of the eighteenth-century gentleman. These covers, called "hoods" in English documents, were provided by the sword cutler, or fourbisseur, and (at least in the two known French examples) bore his name as an advertisement. Another leather cover stamped with the name of the Paris cutler Pagès is also in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum (acc. no. 1995.52). A delightful example of eighteenth-century ephemera, this cover complements the Metropolitan Museum’s extensive collection of French smallswords.

Artist

Santerre

Date

ca. 1780

Medium

Leather, silk, paper, ink

Culture

French

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Gift of William H. Riggs, by exchange, 2017