War hammers were carried as a sidearm by armored cavalrymen for much of the sixteenth century and generally have a hammer-like head opposite a spike or beak: one designed to strike a concussive blow, much like a mace, and the other to pierce or puncture. This example, although entirely of steel, is a ceremonial or symbolic weapon, distinguished by its extensive and exceptionally fine chiseled decoration.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Head of a Ceremonial War Hammer
Date:ca. 1550 to ca. 1625
Culture:possibly Italian or French
Medium:Steel
Dimensions:L. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); W. 12 in. (30.5 cm)
Classification:Shafted Weapons
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Object Number:04.3.58
George, 3rd Earl Cadogan, London (by 1857–d. 1864; his estate sale, Christie, Manson, & Woods, London, April 3–7, 1865, no. 290, “State Martel of steel, pierced and chased elaborately, with arabesques and other ornaments. Shown at Manchester”); [Frédéric Spitzer, Paris, by 1878–d. 1890; his estate, 1890–95; Armes et Armures faisant partie de la collection Spitzer, Georges Petit, Paris, June 10–14, 1895, no. 160, for Fr 25,000, to Dino]; Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (1895–1904; sold to MMA).
London. South Kensington Museum. "Sepcial Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art," January 10–May 30, 1881, no. 398 (lent by M.F. Spritzer).
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Triumph of Humanism: A Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance," October 22, 1977–January 8, 1978, no. 123.
Waring, J. B., and J. R. Planché. A Handbook to the Museum of Ornamental Art in the Art Treasures Exhibition. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1857. p. 76.
Waring, J. B. Art Treasures of the United Kingdom from the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester. London: Day and Son, 1858. no. 3, pl. 14.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Catalogue of the Valuable Collection of Fine Old Plate, Sèvres, Dresden, Chelsea, and other Porcelain, Antiquities, and Objects of Art and Virtu, Formed by the Late Right Hon. Earl Cadogan, and Removed from Piccadilly. London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, 14, Charing Cross, April 3–7, 1865. no. 290.
Robinson, John Charles. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, 1881. p. 81, no. 398.
Spitzer, Frédéric. "Armes et Armures." In La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité--Moyen-Âge--Renaissance. Vol. VI. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1892. no. 283, pl. XXIX.
Galerie Georges Petit. Catalogue des Armes et Armures Faisant Partie de la Collection Spitzer. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, June 10–14 1895. no. 160, ill.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. Le Cabinet d'Armes de Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1901. p. 83, no. H. 7, pl. 16.
Laking, Guy Francis, Charles A. de Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. IV. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920–1922. pp. 331–32, fig. 1396.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. p. 124, fig. 78.
Grancsay, Stephen V., D. Graeme Keith, and Dr. Charles Avery. The Triumph of Humanism: A Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance. San Francisco: Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1977. pp. 49, 87, no. 123, fig. 64.
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