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Knife and sheath: M.26 & A-1933

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Handle maker: Unknown
Cutler: Unknown
Silversmith: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Ivory, steel, leather and silver; the knife with steel blade and ivory handle carved with Venus and Cupid; the leather sheath with silver mounts

Ivory, steel, leather and silver; the knife has a broad double-sided steel blade which tapers to a rounded point. The ivory handle is carved in the form of Venus and Cupid. She rests against a pillar whilst holding an arrow in her left hand and Cupid's hand in her right. Behind them rises a spray of scrolling foliage, and they stand on a plinth decorated with scrolls. The ferrule is of steel with decorative borders. The sheath is of leather mounted in silver at the rim and base, and is of slender triangular shape. Both mounts have scroll cut edges and are engraved, chased and punched with rocaille decoration.

Notes

History note: Not known before testator

Legal notes

Given by A.A. de Pass, 1933

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1933) by de Pass, Alfred A.

Dating

17th Century, Early#
Circa 1600 CE - Circa 1650 CE

Note

The style of the sheath and the decoration on the silver mounts suggest it was made in the early to mid 18th century, so it is either a replacement for an earlier sheath or a later addition.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Mounts composed of silver
Blade composed of steel
Handle composed of ivory
Sheath composed of leather Length 18 cm
Knife Length 24.2 cm

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM / GIVEN BY / ALFRED A. DE PASS / 1933
  • Location: On the side of the sheath
  • Method of creation: Printed and glued
  • Type: Paper label

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.26 & A-1933
Primary reference Number: 167103
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 13 December 2017 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Knife and sheath" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/167103 Accessed: 2024-12-22 10:48:52

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/167103 |title=Knife and sheath |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 10:48:52|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-167103

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