Sweden, c. 1650.
Sweden, c. 1650.
Steel, wood, silvering, gilt.
237 cm.
A partisan was a mostly ceremonial weapon carried by high-ranking lifeguard officers in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century Europe. The collection’s partisan has a lily-shaped spearhead whose points are decorated on both sides with coats of arms. This partisan belonged to Count Claes Tott (1630–1674), Ambassador and Governor-General of Livonia, whose father, Åke Tott, was a cousin and trusted officer of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden.
