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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.1661.A
People
Unidentified Maker
Title
Sword
Other Titles
Former Title: Lafayette's Sword?
Classification
Weapons and Ammunition
Work Type
sword
Date
c. 1791
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/229731

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Blade: steel with gold-filled incised decoration and inscriptions; handle: braided brass wire over fabric on a wooden core; guard: cast brass and gilt bronze, with profile portrait of Lafayette enframed in draped flags; lion-headed pummel: cast brass with gilt bronze decoration
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
length: 95 cm (37 3/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: inscribed on the recto of the blade: Pour la Nation
  • inscription: inscribed on the verso of the blade: Vaincrir ou mourir

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1661.A
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
inscribed on the recto of the blade: "Pour la Nation"; inscribed on the verso of the blade: "Vaincrir ou mourir"

Publication History

  • Objets et Souvenirs concernant le General La Fayette: Catalogue of the Girardin Family Collection (n.d.), p. 7
  • Washington, Lafayette, Franklin: Portraits, Books, Manuscripts, Prints, Memorabilia, for the Most Part from the Collections of the University, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1944), p. 51, cat. 115
  • Agnes Mongan, Harvard Honors Lafayette, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), pp. 80-81, no. 25, repr.

Exhibition History

  • Washington Lafayette Franklin, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/22/1944 - 05/28/1944

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu