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Details
LOT 1757
Medieval Iron Knife with Bronze Pommel
LATE 14TH CENTURY A.D.
7 1/4 in. (31 grams, 18.3 cm).
Comprising a single cutting edge; scale tang with pommel formed as a bifacial crown with incised detailing; Netherlands.
Provenance
Acquired 1960s-1990s.
Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
Literature
Marquardt, K., Eight Centuries of European Knives, Forks and Spoons: an Art Collection, Europe, 1997, p.32, item 69, for type.
Footnotes
Knife handles can be classified according to their method of attachment into whittle and scale-tang handles. Whittle-tang handles were the most common type used in the early medieval period. Whittle tang handles (like here) were more common later and fixed by pushing the pointed end of the knife tang into the handle.
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Medieval Iron Knife with Bronze Pommel
Circa 1500 A.D.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £80
Comprising a single cutting edge and scale tang; bifacial pommel engraved with a female figure to one face and an enigmatic design to the other. 35 grams, 17 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
There were four essential ways to carry the small knifes in late Middle Ages: a) with the scabbard tucked diagonally behind belt, without suspension loop; b) without scabbard, simply thrust through the purse of the belt; c) with the scabbard tied horizontally at waist with suspension holes in the widened handle flap; d) suspended vertically from thong looped over the belt, in the scabbard.
