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Back to previous pageLOT 1539
Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
15TH CENTURY A.D. AND LATER
14 3/8 in. (222 grams, 36.5 cm).
The tapering blade with a single cutting edge; modern replica leather scabbard decorated with 'fleur de lys' and wooden handle with bulbous guard and pommel. [No Reserve]
PROVENANCE:
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.
From the private collection of a Kent, UK, gentleman.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
LITERATURE:
Cf. Mills, N., Medieval Artefacts, Witham, 2003, p.95, for a similar 15th century specimen of ballock-kidney dagger with a bone handle.
FOOTNOTES:
The term 'ballock dagger' was used in medieval times to describe a dagger with a grip bearing a considerable resemblance to a phallic symbol. It was also called 'kidney dagger' during the Victorian times. The constant characteristic is the presence of two roundish and symmetrical bulbs at the guard, with the grip itself emerging upward between them and flaring slightly towards the top, sometimes being surmounted by a cap.
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