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.

CONDITION

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LOT 1757