Blade runners

Sword play at Higgins

by Leon Nigrosh

A DOUBLE-EDGED WEAPON: THE SWORD AS ICON AND ARTIFACT
At the Higgins Armory Museum, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, through October 1.

What is it about swords? Even curator Jeffrey Singman says that they are not very effective weapons. An ax, after all, can deliver a more powerful blow; a spear has greater thrust and reach; and arrows can easily subdue the enemy at a great distance. What swords do have, however, is an abiding mystique; they've been central to the lives of Japanese samurai. Sikh men are required by their religion to carry a Kirpan, a small curved sword. And the sword still serves as a symbol of leadership and power in central Africa and throughout Europe.

For centuries, swords retained a valued place in society, partly because each was fashioned through a difficult process that required superior and expensive metalsmithing skills. As a result, and in most cases, only those people of high status or of great wealth could possess these fine examples of craftsmanship in steel. In contrast, swords for the common foot soldier were quickly and cheaply made, and they were definitely inferior as weapons.

A selection of more than 40 swords from the museum's own collection is magnificently displayed in the redesigned gallery at the Higgins Armory Museum. Different swords from different places and different eras are thematically arranged, each with an accompanying story, along with a series of prints and photographs. The keystone of this exhibit is the museum's latest acquisition, a 1790 Small-sword designed and constructed by the famous British inventor Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) and Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), 18th-century England's famous ceramic artist. This full-length gentleman's dress accessory was factory-made of burnished, blued, and gilded steel, with its hilt wrapped in small diamond-shaped steel beads and fitted with tiny, ceramic, brooch-like Jasperware insets. Although this sword would probably have made a serviceable weapon, its obvious purpose was chiefly for personal adornment.

The massive Sword of Justice, from 18th-century Solingen, Germany, held a two-fold purpose, serving as a symbol of power and as an executioner's implement. The etched and gilded blade is inscribed with words to the effect that the sinner will soon be in God's hands. As impressive as this sword may be, the Germans of 16th-century Passau produced huge, two-handed swords like the 15-pound Bearing Sword, used symbolically by the king's bodyguards. Not to be outdone, the Northern Germans equipped their infantrymen with nearly six-foot-long Zweihänder, two-handed swords that, like the example on display, weighed in at a mere 14 pounds. But, as shown in this exhibit, bigger is not necessarily better. Broadswords eventually gave way to rapiers as the weapon of choice, and some of these slim, beautifully decorated, lethal sidearms weighed as little as 15 ounces.

The exhibit contains a number of curiosities such as the 17th- to 18th-century Indian Pata, which has an armor-covered hilt that fits over the entire hand and wrist like a glove. An 18th- to 19th-century Montenegrin saber has a highly unusual gold hilt in the shape of an open hand. This implement is thought to have been used in Eastern Orthodox religious rites. Then there is the 18th-century Persian Dhu al-fiqar saber that has a split point. This design is based upon Islamic tradition that the Prophet Muhammad carried a similar sword based on a shape he saw in a dream.

It may be hard to believe, but swords were still required weaponry for the US armed forces right up into World War 2, and several examples of these have been included in the show. The sword on display with the most ironic anecdote is a saber created for use by Confederate field officers during the American Civil War (1861-65). In fact, the Nashville Plow Works in Tennessee shifted production lines from making farming implements to making sabers -- in effect, reversing the Old Testament prophesy: "they shall beat their swords into plowshares" (Isaiah 2:4). This certainly is something to think about as you look through the entire exhibition.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Call 853-6015.