Medieval Gold Quatrefoil Mount with Garnet

Comprising a single cutting edge and scale tang; bifacial pommel engraved with a female figure to one face and an enigmatic design to the other. 35 grams, 17 cm



Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

There were four essential ways to carry the small knifes in late Middle Ages: a) with the scabbard tucked diagonally behind belt, without suspension loop; b) without scabbard, simply thrust through the purse of the belt; c) with the scabbard tied horizontally at waist with suspension holes in the widened handle flap; d) suspended vertically from thong looped over the belt, in the scabbard.

The obverse depicting the busts of St Peter and St Paul each within an inverted pear shaped compartment defined by pellets; cross pattee supported on a staff between the busts and at the top of the bulla in the centre the letters 'SPASPE', abbreviations for St Paul and St Peter; reverse inscribed over three lines 'ALE/XANDER/PP.IIII', with an omega above the letters 'PP'; both obverse and reverse faces with a pelleted perimeter. 31.1 grams, 30 mm



Private collection, UK.

The 'PP' abbreviation stands for 'pastor pastorum', translated as 'shepherd of the shepherds'. The bulla was so named because it was attached to Papal documents or 'Bullae'. They were sent from the offices of the Pope in Rome and the seal signified that the document was issued with the Pope's authority. Alexander's pontificate was signalled by efforts to reunite the Eastern Orthodox churches with the Catholic Church, by the establishment of the Inquisition in France, by favours shown to the mendicant orders, and by an attempt to organize a crusade against the Mongols after the second Mongol raid against Poland in 1259.

With carinated hoop, scaphoid bezel, incised zigzag design. 1.42 grams, 18.89 mm.



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Essex, UK, collector.