Medieval Iron Cleaver Group

15TH-17TH CENTURY A.D.

9 3/4 - 18 in. (8 kg total, 25-48 cm).

Comprising hook-ended examples together with one square-ended example. [14]

Provenance

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

Literature

Cf. Seetah, K. ‘The Middle Ages on the block: animals, Guilds and meat in the medieval period’ in Pluskowski Breaking and Shaping Beastly Bodies, animals as material culture in the Middle Ages Oxford, 2007, fig.3.6 (images of Medieval cleaver from the Luttrell Psalter).

Footnotes

During the Roman period chopping tools such as cleavers were predominantly used whilst during the medieval period knives and cleavers were the preferred tools for butchering carcasses. Cleavers were also often depicted in medieval art as having riveted handles. Such handles made a cleaver more durable, whilst using steel as a component of the blade made it last longer.

CONDITION

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LOT 1681