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_900x900.jpg "Medieval Iron Kidney Dagger")
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LOT 0265
Medieval Iron Kidney Dagger
LATE 15TH CENTURY A.D.
18 1/8 in. (307 grams, 46 cm).
Featuring a wedge-shaped blade and a lobed handle; the hilt fitted with an iron plate bending down to form points on each side of the blade, pommel with a discoid brass plate decorated with an incised flower motif.
ProvenanceAcquired 1960s-1990s.
Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
Cf. Tarassuk, L. & Blair, C., Complete Encyclopaedia of Arms & Weapons, London, 1982, p.156, item 5, for a late 15th century version of the type.
FootnotesThe 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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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0265
Medieval Iron Kidney Dagger
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000€1,740 - 2,320 (for guidance only)$2,030 - 2,700 (for guidance only)
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Assyrian Bronze Relief Fragment
Circa 9th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Displaying a corrugated rim above and below; two advancing soldiers, each striding forwards over the headless body of a dead enemy, carrying a severed head in each hand; the soldiers shown bearded and each wearing a pointed and segmented helmet with a recess to accommodate the ears, a cuirass and thigh-length tunic, with a bow over one shoulder and a sword slung from a waist belt; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 72 grams, 10.8 cm wide (277 grams total, 11 cm high including stand)
Ex S. Moussieff collection, London, UK. Acquired from C.J. Martin (Coins) Ltd. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.203209.
Battle-scenes - and especially images where the Assyrians overrun their enemies and achieve outright victory - appear to make up a large part of 'official' art of the period. Subjecting a defeated foe to torture and death is the theme of much of the wall-decoration of the palace of Nineveh. A battle-scene depicting the siege of a walled city shows similarly equipped infantrymen; it is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession no.55.121.4a, b. -
Greek Bronze Arrowhead Group
5th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Primarily composed of socketted types with triangular cross-sections. 198 grams total, 26-43 mm
Ex private collection, 1980s. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s. -
Luristan Bronze Dirk
Circa 1000 B.C.Estimate: £400 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £139
Composed of a leaf-shaped blade with a raised penannular rib and slot below the shoulder connected to the grip with lateral flanges and integral pommel, recessed to accept an organic insert. 264 grams, 37.5 cm
From an old English collection, formed in the 1980s. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
This dirk, cast in one piece mould, belongs to the daggers that Medvedskaya believes support the thesis that majority of them were cast in one piece. However, there are examples where the penannular grip was cast on later on the dagger or dirk.
