Details

LOT 1685

Medieval Iron Knife Blade Group

14TH-16TH CENTURY A.D.

7 - 16 1/2 in. (3.1 kg total, 18-42 cm).

Comprising hunting, butcher's domestic and other blade types, including examples with serrated blades and sickles. [15, No Reserve]

Provenance

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

Literature

Cf. Cowgill, J. et al., Knives and Scabbards. Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, London, 1987, figs.57-63, for similar 14th century A.D. examples of knives.

Footnotes

Aside from the actual cut marks that are observed on animal bones following archaeological excavation, the butchery implements found from the medieval period are of considerable importance. The cut marks seem to indicate a more refined style of butchery with less use of the cleaver for disarticulation and a greater reliance on knives. The defining characteristic of the butchery knives is that they were sharp-edged and likely to have been made in much the same way as the cleavers, i.e. with a steel edge to maintain sharpness.