This sword is believed to have belonged to Sir William Twysden (1566–1628), who was knighted by King James I in 1603, served in Parliament for many years, and was a collector of books and manuscripts. It is one of the finest examples of a silver encrusted English basket-hilted sword of this period.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Basket-Hilted Sword
Date:1600–1625
Culture:British
Medium:Steel, silver, gold, leather
Dimensions:L. 39 3/8 in. (100 cm); L. of blade 33 in. (83.8 cm); W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm); Wt. 3 lb. 13 oz. (1729 g)
Classification:Swords
Credit Line:Gift of Alan Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, 1949
Accession Number:49.163.6
Inscription: Inscribed in lateral grooves of the blade, twice on each side: M M M M S S S S
Ex coll.: Baron Charles Alexander de Cosson, Florence; Rutherford Stuyvesant, Allamuchy, NJ.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Arms and Armor," February 6–April 16, 1911.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor," August 3–September 27, 1931, no. 157.
Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–March 18, 1953, no. 89.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–June 7, 1953, no. 89.
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1953–April 1954, no. 89.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Armour and Arms, or, Catalogue of the Famous Collection of Armour and Arms Formed by That Well-Known Connoisseur, The Baron de Cosson, F.S.A., Which Has Been On Loan to the South Kensington Museum for the Last Two Years. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 2–3, 1893. p. 32, no. 205, ill. pl. face.
Dean, Bashford. The Collection of Arms and Armor of Rutherford Stuyvesant, 1843–1909. New York: privately printed, 1914. pp. 63–64, no. 65, pl. XXV.
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. p. 325, fig. 1388.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1953. p. 25, no. 89, ill.
Blair, Claude. European & American Arms, c. 1100–1850. New York: Crown Publishers, 1962. p. 86, fig. 167.
Norman, A. V. B. Arms and Armour. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964. p. 103, fig. 105.
Blackmore, Howard. Arms and Armour. Dutton Vista Pictureback. London: Studio Vista, 1965. p. 118, ill.
Blair, Claude. "The Early Basket-Hilt in Britain." Scottish Weapons and Fortifications, 1100-1800 (1981), pp.163–64, fig. 69.
Blair, Claude, and Lionello G. Boccia. Armi E Armature. Quaderni dell'antiquariato. Milan: Fabbri, 1982. p. 49, ill.
Norman, A. V. B. Additional Material towards a History of the Basket - Hilt (1998), p. 413, fig. 7.
Norman, A. V. B., and C. M. Barne. The Rapier and Small-Sword, 1460–1820. Huntingdon, England: Ken Trotman, 2009. p. 52, 361.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), pp. 40–41, fig. 67.
Mowbray, Stuart C. British Military Swords: An Identification Guide & Historical Study. Vol. 1. Woonsocket, R.I.: Mowbray Publishing, 2013. pp. 111–12, ill.
Southwick, Leslie. "English Swords, c. 1600–c. 1660, Aspects of Design, Ornament and Manufacture." The Spring 2017 London Park Lane Arms Fair (2017), pp. 68–70, figs. 49a–e.
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