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Details

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.

Provenance

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

Literature

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.

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.

CONDITION

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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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