Peter Finer ~ Autumn Highlights ~ Frieze Masters 2023

PETER FINER

FINE ANTIQUE ARMS, ARMOUR & RELATED OBJECTS

AUTUMN HIGHLIGHTS

CONTENTS

1 A Hunting-Sword with Amber Grip

c. 1682 – 96/7

2 An English Hunting Knife, in the early Mughal Court Fashion

c. 17th century

3 A Hanger with Agate Pistol-Grip late 17th century

10 An Exceptional Dagger, or Khanjar 17th – 18 th century

11 An Ottoman Dagger, or Hancer late 17th century

12 An Ottoman Dagger, or Hancer late 17th century

4 A Hunting-Sword with Agate Grip

c. 1700

5 A Hunting-Sword with Jasper Grip

c. 1700

6 A Hunting Hanger with Agate Grip

c. 1697 – 1715

7 A Hunting Hanger with Agate Grip

c. 1700

8 A Hunting-Sword with Carnelian Grip

c. 1770 – 80

9 A Dagger, or Khanjar

late 17th or early 18 th century

13 A Fine Saddle Axe Head, or Tabarzin late 18 th century

14 A Rare Persian Shield, or Separ dated 1142 AH (The CE year 1729/30)

15 A Rare Leg Defence, or Dizçek late 15th century

16 A Fine Gold Decorated Tulwar 19 th century

17 An Anamorphic Candlestick 19 th century

18 A Superb Pair of Saddle, or Gser sga, mounts 16 th – 17th century

19 A Rare Medieval Tibetan Quiver 15th – 16 th century

29 A Rare Dragon Yamato Utsubo, or Quiver, with Ya, Arrows

mid-Edo¯ period, 18 th century

20 A Pair of Lacquered Shin-guards, or Suneate

Edo¯ period, c. 1865

21 A Ressei Menpo¯

Edo¯ period, c. 17th century

22 A Twenty-Four Plate Helmet by Myo¯chin Munemasa Nihojiro

Hoshi Kabuto

mid-Edo¯ period, 18 th century

23 A Japanese Military Hat, or Jingasa

Edo¯ period, 19 th century

24 A Tanto, or Dagger

Edo¯ or Meiji period, 19 th century

25 A Ryu-Shinogi Omi-No-Yari, or Spear

Late Momoyama or early Edo¯ period, c. late 16 th – early 17th century

26 A Dagger, or Tanto

Edo¯ period, dated 1805

27 A Large Pierced Japanese Arrowhead

early Edo¯ period, c. 1650 – 1675

28 A Group of Twenty Arrowheads, or Yanone, in a Wooden Rack

Edo¯ period, 19 th century

30 A Silver-encrusted Processional Partisan of Courtly Quality

second half of the 16 th century

31 A Close Helmet for a Louis XIII Cuirassier Armour

c. 1620 – 30

32 A Rare Early Medieval Spur

10 th – 11th century

33 A Carolingian Period Frankish Prick-Spur

8 th century

34 A Pair of Rowel Spurs

c. 1630

35 A Pair of Rowel-Spurs

c. 1600

36 A Pair of Rowel-Spurs

c. 1675

37 A Silver-Hilted Small-Sword made for a Child, in the Rococo Fashion

c. 1770 – 80

38 A Cuisse for the Left Leg, in the Augsburg Fashion, in the Manner of Jörg Sorg

c. 1550

1 A Hunting-Sword with Amber Grip

c. 1682 – 96/7

Silver Maker’s Mark of Thomas Vicaridge stuck on the hilt collar and scabbard

England, London

Steel, silver-gilt, amber, wood and leather

58.5 × 8.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

English 17th century sword hilts built on an amber core are extremely rare and the present one must count among only a very few surviving examples. Cut from of a single piece of amber, the grip swells from its base to form a domed shouldered pommel, an accentuated version of the style of pommel found on the fine agate hilts produced in London in the latter decade of the 17th century. The polished finish reveals a series of dark inclusions adding to the marbled effect of the natural material.

Historically the greatest quantities of amber were to be found along East Prussia’s Baltic coast, on the shores of the Curonian lagoon and on those enclosing former Königsberg on the Sambia peninsula. Used in the manufacturing of a range of luxurious small works of art and domestic wares since the medieval period, raw amber was exported throughout the known world. From the 16th to end of the 18th centuries the collecting of amber was of sufficient value to the Prussian Duchy that it was a state prerogative, any local inhabitants caught removing amber were liable to severe punishment, even sentence of death.

The present hilt is made the more striking by the addition of a highly prominent silver tang-button, which is finely cast in the round in the form of the St. Edwards crown. Relatively newly made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, the crown was used for the subsequent coronations of James II in 1685 and William III in 1689. The maker of this hilt, Thomas Vicaridge, was perhaps inspired by the nearness of either these latter dates in embellishing his work with a representation of the coronation crown.

The remaining parts of the hilt are of silver-gilt, comprising a large moulded collar seating the grip and a crosspiece drawn-out to form a pair of very short quillons, their respective tips each formed as recumbent lion in the round. Mounted with a burnished blade and in its lightly tooled pigskincovered wooden scabbard with locket and chape also of silver-gilt.

The hilt collar and the scabbard mounts are each struck with the first silver maker’s mark of Thomas Vickaridge (active 1682-1715). Vickaridge registered his first mark at Goldsmiths’ Hall on the ‘mark table’ of 1682. He registered his second mark in the Smallworkers’ Book at Goldsmiths’ Hall, probably in April of 1697. The present hilt will therefore pre-date that registration.

Vickaridge is considered to have been a leading silver-hilt maker and sword-cutler. He was sworn Free of the Cutlers’ Company 25th April 1682 and upon payment of a fifteen shillings fee was admitted to the Company. He is confirmed as working as a silver-hilt maker from the date of his Freedom of the Company until the introduction of the Britannia standard silver in 1697. Over the length of this period he is recorded working in New Street precinct in the parish of St. Brides, Fleet St., the ward of Farringdon Without, City of London.

Another hunting-sword with a silver hilt by Vickaridge is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. No. 9371984), another is in the National Maritime Museum (Inv. No. 339): each of these has a staghorn grip conventional to the period.

An English Hunting Knife, in the early Mughal Court Fashion

The Indian grip dates to the first decades of the 17th century

The English silver mounts to the last decade of the 17th century

The blade is struck with the cutler’s mark of Giles Lyndesey, a dagger conjoined with the letter T Mughal India and England, London Steel, wood, leather, silver-gilt, gold and agate

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

Without doubt the defining exotic element of this knife is the grip, of carved Indian pale grey agate marbled with orange tones. As a notably early example of a Mughal dagger hilt (Khanjar ) it is conspicuously rare in its own right. Produced within the first decades of the 17th century, the grip predates the blade, the silver mounts and the scabbard by some sixty years or more, all of these being the product of London workmanship within the latter part of the century.

Mughal daggers with carved stone hilts of this ‘pistol’ type first appear in examples of Mughal court portraiture and manuscript illuminations from within the reigns of the fourth emperor, Jahangir (I), 1605-27, and that of his successor Shah Jahan (I), 1628-58.

The present grip is of early near-vertical form and is decorated in the restrained style of carving which pre-dates the free coverage of flowers and foliage later introduced under the patronage of Shah Jahan. Here, the pommel is carved with a single dropshaped leaf in low relief over its apex (now interrupted by a decorative silver cap of London late 17th century origin) and with a simple volute following its globular contour on each side. Another notable early dating feature are the carved finger indentations which run up the leading edge of the grip.

The blade is struck with the cutler’s mark of Giles Lyndesey, a dagger conjoined with the letter T. Lyndesey was assigned this mark by the London Cutlers’ Company 6th February 1678, he was made Free of the Company in 1673 and became a Liveryman in 1682 (d. after 1713).

The base of the blade is decorated on both sides with an engraved and gilt matted panel of scrollwork suspending a cartoon-like swagged mask at its centre. This somewhat naïve style of work is typical of the decorated blades of English daggers and plugbayonets produced within the latter decades of the 17th century.

Viewed as a whole construction, the easy stylistic synergy of this exotic knife makes a compelling case for the agate grip having been supplied later in the 17th century to a London cutler; we may safely presume by an officer of what subsequently came to be known as the British East India Company. We may further presume that the intention was to create a knife in reflecting the owner’s colourful and adventurous service, through which his wealth and status had been newly acquired. Even at the end of the 17th century the British East India Company was still within its formative period. The Indian trade interests vital to British power in the east remained much reliant on the mutual good graces of the Mughal emperor and the protective support required of the Company. In consideration of its joint 17th century origins, this knife is a rare emblem of the British proto-colonial period in Indian history.

The Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, in response to the petition of 218 ambitious merchant subscribers in the City of London. The document referred to ‘The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies’, the lengthy title by which the Company was officially known until at least 1833. The initial impetus came in the form of the lucrative spice trade, to which was subsequently added the trade in coffee and luxury textiles. In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe was sent to the court of the Emperor Jahangir at Agra as trade ambassador for King James I, in an expedition funded by the Company. The success of this diplomatic mission brought the necessary trading permissions from the Emperor Jahangir (Roe remained until 1619, a favourite at the imperial court), against an incentive background of reluctantly conceded naval protection for Mughal seafaring interests against pirates and ‘interlopers’. By 1619 the gateway was opened for the expansion of trade, leading to the establishment of the East India Company trading Presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta and to the ensuing two centuries of British gain throughout the subcontinent.

3

A Hanger with Agate Pistol-Grip

late 17th century

London Silver Hallmarks, Silver Maker’s Mark of William Knight

England, London

Steel, silver, copper, agate, wood and leathe

63 × 11 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

Christie’s London, 16 July 2003, lot 49

Private collection, England

Whereas the rounded form of the agate grip and its bulbous pommel resemble the Indian agate hilts of daggers worn at the Imperial Moghul court in Agra, this larger proportioned example is in reality European. It is, however, most probable that it was commissioned by a figure with links to the early British East India Company. It is tempting to imagine the intention to provide a touch of swagger, a hint of exotic adventure.

While being primarily carried by huntsmen in pursuit of game animals, easily wielded short swords with robust curved blades such as this example gained popularity among naval officers prior to the introduction of swords of regulation pattern. The promise of protection given by the naval forces of the East India Company was in fact a significant element of the Mughal Emperors’ negotiations in their grant of trading permissions. Pirates and ‘interlopers’, that is to say Dutch merchant adventurers, were a considerable menace to Mughal marine interests when their former Portuguese protectors had been removed by the British.

The agate certainly provides colour and dash and sits well with the silver mounts fashionable in London towards the close of the 17th century. The crosspiece is struck with London silver hallmarks for the period 1680-1696/7 and extends to form a pair of short quillons, the opposing terminals formed as marine monster’s heads cast in the round. The silver maker’s mark of William Knight is struck on the tang-button at the apex of the pommel and on the scabbard locket.

William Knight (recorded 1678-about 1702) was a maker of silver sword and bayonet hilts and cutlery. He was sworn Free of the Grocers’ Company by servitude in 1685. Knight was active in New Street in the Parish of St. Brides, in the City of London ward of Farringdon Without, and is recorded in the Land Tax Assessment book as working there in 1692. His neighbours were the prominent sword-cutlers and hilt-makers Thomas Bibb (I) and Richard Fuller.

Knight registered his first mark in this period, WK conjoined in a shield, to be succeeded by his second mark in about 1697. It is Knight’s first mark which is struck on the mounts of the present sword hilt and its scabbard.

A Hunting-Sword with Agate Grip

c. 1700 4

Silver Maker’s Mark IR

England, London

Steel, silver, copper, agate, wood and fishskin

46.5 × 10 cm (sword)

21 × 3 cm (byknife)

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

When viewed in section from above apex of the grip, the exquisite natural pattern of close-set banding reveals the gem-like quality of the agate, the spectrum of its colours heightened by its fine bevelled and faceted cut. Similarly, the perfect banded pattern of colours runs vertically over the length of the rearward surface. Over its top, simple small silver tang button sits with ease on a silver calyx washer.

A silver basal collar and crosspiece complete the hilt construction, the latter cast with a fluted moulding at its centre and the quillon terminals formed as recurved discs each filled with a galloping horseman in low relief.

The bayonet-like blade, perhaps pre-dating the hilt slightly, tapers over a graceful curve to a sharp elongated point. The base is decorated with an engraved and punched panel of tulip flowers on both sides, a king’s head mark is struck on both sides also, and a dagger mark inlaid in copper is struck on the inner face. While of German origin, the king’s head mark belongs to a series of such marks found on a range of blades produced by different English cutlers in the late 17th century. The dagger mark was used by the London Cutlers’ Company as an assembly mark but is comparatively rarely found.

The sword is complete in its original fishskin-covered scabbard, with its companion byknife. The byknife has a silver-mounted agate handle, the blade is struck with the dagger mark of the London Cutlers’ Company together with a cutler’s mark, A crowned; the latter is most likely the mark of Joseph Arnold, who registered his mark 14th October 1703.

A Hunting-Sword with Jasper Grip

c. 1700

5 England, London

Steel, silver, jasper, wood and leather

58 × 9 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

The piece of jasper selected to provide the grip of this hilt possesses the highly rare quality of being a deep green with naturally occurring red and pink diagonal banding, the product of iron oxides included its geological formation. In its faceted and polished state this speckled hardstone reveals the richness of its individualistic character for which it was favoured by English and German makers of luxurious sets of table cutlery between the mid- 17th and early 18th centuries. As a natural extension of this trade, jasper is among the less frequently observed premium hardstones involved in the making of sword hilts.

The quality and the overall design of this hilt and its component silver elements suggests a London workshop and a manufacturing date at the close of the 17th century. Dating characteristics present in this hilt include the deep collar by which the base of the stone grip is secured, and by the delicate form of the crosspiece with its monsters’ head quillon terminals cast in the round and finely chiselled.

The blade is cut with a serrated back-edge and its robust quality is again a feature of this earlier period. The King’s Head bladesmith’s mark with which both sides of the blade are boldly struck is unidentifiable, the full mask design being one of a range of related marks found on English blades produced throughout the second half of the 17th century. By the end of the century marks of this type were probably those used by Anglicised immigrant German smiths from Solingen, or their descendants.

The sword is complete with its original scabbard, its silver locket decorated with a chased panel of closeset scrollwork suspending a small cartouche at its centre and matched with the collar at the base of the grip; the scabbard chape would appear to be an early working replacement, dating from circa 1735-40.

A Hunting Hanger with Agate Grip

c. 1697 – 1715

6 Silver Maker’s Mark IR , London Silver Hallmarks for 1697-1715

England, London

Steel, silver, agate, wood and leather

59.5 × 10 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

The distributed patterned colours of the agate play in the light of its carved facets and high polish. The stone evidently selected for its unusually decorative features in the creation of an exceptional hilt. At the base the quillon finials are formed with recurved disc terminals, each filled with a galloping horseman cast in relief.

The blade is robust and cut with a serrated backedge, a legacy of the practical application of the hunting-sword within the earlier decades of the 17th century. The scabbard is silver-mounted in accord with the hilt.

A Hunting Hanger with Agate Grip

c. 1700

7 Silver Maker’s Mark IR

England, probably London

Iron alloy (steel), silver, gold, agate, wood, leather 47 × 9.5 cm

PROVENANCE

D.W.S. Donald Collection, Christie’s London, Fine Antique Arms and Armour, 25 February 1981, lot 28

Per T. Norheim Collection, Bonhams Knightsbridge, Fine Antique Arms and Armour Including items from the Per T. Norheim Collection, 29 April 2010, lot 45

Private collection, England

This silver hilt is of the high quality associated with London hilt-making at the close of the 17th century. The period is characterised in this instance by the moulded form of the crosspiece, the dogs’ head quillon terminals cast superbly in the round and the engraved tall collar into which the base of the grip is bedded. The grip itself is formed of a highly attractive piece of agate, with variegated pale brown and orange tones. The grip is somewhat flattened in section and swells to form the shouldered domed or cushion-like pommel fashionable in about 1700.

It would appear that this sword has led an extended working life, the hilt subsequently engraved with panels of rococo bouquets dating from the period 1740-50. A similarly styled engraved band encircles the scabbard locket, clearly at odds with the earlier profile head cast in relief on the suspension hook.

The blade, conversely, while evidently the original to the hilt, may in fact have pre-dated the hilt by some ten to fifteen years. The engraved and punched panels of scrolling foliage at the base would almost be old-fashioned by 1700. The excellent ‘running wolf’ mark cut on one side is found on a wide-range of English sword and bayonet blades produced during the last quarter of the 17th century. While this mark was in earlier times emblematic of the German cities of Passau and Solingen renowned for their exported fine blades, in England by the latter part of the 17th century the wolf mark was more usually a device adopted by bladesmiths to impart notions of traditional high quality to their work.

8

A Hunting-Sword with Carnelian Grip

c. 1770 – 80

Silver Maker’s Mark, the monogram TM

Probably Germany

Steel, wood, leather, silver-gilt, carnelian 59.5 × 8 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, England

The vivid marbled tones of red and dark orange are the recognisable characteristic of the carnelian selected to form the grip for this hilt. Only rarely involved in the hilts of hunting-swords and smallswords, carnelian is more likely encountered providing the handles for luxurious table cutlery produced over the span of the 16th and 18th centuries.

In this instance the warm colours of the stone are ideally matched with the silver-gilt of the hilt and scabbard mounts. Much the same aesthetic pairing is exemplified in the densely figured warmth of burr walnut used in 18th century gunmaking, contrasting with the brilliance of the fire-gilt stock mounts. As in the case of continental firearms such as this, the well-considered use of colour has created a sword of courtly quality.

Seated in anticipation, the relief figure of a hunting dog projects from the collar at the base of the grip. At the centre of the hilt are the delicate and purposefully irregular branches of an up-swept forward quillon balanced by another, shorter, at the rear. The forward quillon serves the additional role of anchor to the knuckle-chain suspended from the small cap pommel. A shell-guard is mounted below the central point of the crosspiece. The guard is cast in the rakishly asymmetric outline of a scrolling rococo cartouche, its interior ground filled with a characteristically Germanic design of ribbonwork interlace.

A silver mark is struck on the scabbard locket. Again in a characteristically Germanic fashion, the base of the blade is etched on both sides with a panel of scrolls and flowerheads on a faux damascened ground, and enclosing at its centre an elaborate trophy-of-arms.

The design of the hilt is possibly influenced by the engraved designs for rococo hilts by Jeremias Wachmuth, published in Augsburg in the mid-18th century. A sheet of his designs is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

A Dagger, or Khanjar

late 17th or early 18 th century

Deccan, Steel, jade and silver

38.5 × 9.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

The blade of this Indian dagger is of watered Wootz steel, double edged and curved. Its remarkable hilt is carved dark green nephrite, a jade, inlaid with flowers and foliate sprays in silver. The triple-bud flowers have been identified as carnations, and the leaves bear close comparison to the saz leaves popular in Ottoman art from the sixteenth century forward.

The technique of this group of hilts, with large, flat areas of silver set in a dark ground, recalls bidri ware, the blackened brass inlaid with silver and gold, produced in a number of Deccani centres such as Hyderabad, Ahmednagar and Bijapur, as well as Bidar itself.

The present dagger relates to a near identical one in the Paris exhibition of 1988, formerly in the Otto Petersen collection (no. 97), to a pale nephrite hilt from the Henderson bequest in the British Museum (no. 78.12-30.883) and one with a serrated blade in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (no. 36.25.667 from the G. C. Stone collection). Hyderabad is thought to have been where these hilts were produced, comparing them to a bidri ware vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

10

An Exceptional Dagger, or Khanjar

17th – 18 th century

Indian, Mughal. Jade, gold, ruby and steel

43.5 × 9.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Frederick H. North Works of Art, June 1972

Private collection, United Kingdom

The code for fashionable dress of the nobility in northern India under the Mughals and their successor states included the wearing of highly decorated daggers which reflected the wearer’s social standing and prestige. Animal headed daggers became popular early in the 17th century and were reserved for nobles of the highest rank. A close study of Mughal miniature paintings reveals the restriction of these animal-headed daggers to a small number of princes and senior dignitaries (Welch 1985, 257–8). The most popular medium for the hilts of these daggers was jade, either nephrite or, later, jadeite, imported from Central Asia, reflecting the Timurid heritage of the Mughal court.

Compare a near identical hilt in the Royal Collection, RCIN11450, presented to King Edward VII as Prince of Wales during his tour to India in 1875–6 by Mahbub ‘Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad via his minister SalarJung I in Bombay, and exhibited in Splendours of the Subcontinent at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in 2018.

11 Ottoman Turkey

An Ottoman Dagger, or Hancer

late 17th century

Steel, wood, leather, silver, niello, gold and hardstones

29 × 4.5 × 2.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

One of an important series of daggers captured after the unsuccessful Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683, this example has a slightly curved, double edged plain blade. The hilt is of a waisted form, made from a single piece of faceted wood. The scabbard is of wood covered with black leather, with chape and locket of silver decorated with simple foliate scrollwork in niello, with a small suspension loop at the front.

The present dagger compares with the two plain daggers of this form in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, nos D 273–4.

12

An Ottoman Dagger, or Hancer

late 17th century

Ottoman Turkey

Steel, wood, silver, niello, gold, carnelian, turquoise

33 × 6 cm

PROVENANCE

Galerie Fischer, Luzerne, Switzerland, Kunstauktion 30 th November, 1966

Private collection, Sweden

Private collection, England

One of an important series of daggers from the war booty after the unsuccessful Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683. This one has a slightly curved, double edged blade with traces of a foliate medallion in gold koftgari at the forte. Its hilt is of silver, of waisted form repoussé with lotus buds at the centre above and below a dotted band, with matching bands at the top and bottom. The ground of the hilt is chiselled with foliate ornament decorated with gilding and niello. The pommel is set with a cabochon carnelian and two small turquoises. The scabbard is of wood covered with silver decorated at the front in niello and gilding to match the hilt, with a band of five small turquoises and four small carnelians at the throat. The rear is of plain silver chiselled with sparse flowers and leaves in niello, with a small suspension loop.

Most of the daggers of this group have horn hilts, and this one is quite unusual in having a silver hilt. A plain version is preserved in the Dresden Kunstsammlungen no. Y 78 (Schuckelt 2010, 130, no. 107). However, the style of decoration is found on the scabbard of several swords in the same collection nos Y 93 and 95 (Schuckelt 2010, 212, 265, nos 198, 214) and the scabbards of on a horn hilted dagger dated 1682 in the the Furusiyya Art Foundation, Vaduz, no. R 328 (Mohamed 2008 165–6, no. 154), and one the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe no. D 271 (Petrasch 1991, 197–8, no. 143).

A Fine Saddle Axe Head, or Tabarzin

late 18 th century

Persia, probably Qajar dynasty. Steel and gold

11 × 14.5 × 4 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Belgium

The saddle axe, so called because it was strapped to the rim of the saddle rather than carried by the warrior or suspended from his belt, was a singlehanded axe used by Turkish and Mongol cavalry from the medieval to the modern period. The head alone survives and would originally have been fitted to a short haft of wood or iron.

The blade is finely fretted with a cusped and scalloped arabesque medallion, the remainder chiselled with flowering trees inhabited by birds and animals, with a geometrical border in gold koftgari. The edge is populated by a series of lions hunting deer, with some corrosion rendering the decoration difficult to read. The faceted section for the haft is chiselled with floral scrolls, and the sides of the hammer back are chiselled with lions devouring deer. The square back is chiselled with a tree on which quizzical birds perch. The top and bottom are similarly chiselled and heavily gilt. The axe head is in the style of the famous early eighteenth-century maker Lotf ‘Ali, one of whose axes, dated 1739/40, featured in our 2019 catalogue and is now in the David Collection, Copenhagen (36/2019, Finer 2019, 20–1, no. 10, Folsach et al 2019, 122–3, no. 24)

A Rare Persian Shield, or Separ

dated 1142 AH (The CE year 1729/30)

LITERATURE

Islamic Arms and Armour from private Danish Collections, held at the David Collection, Copenhagen, 1982, pages 134 & 135

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

The shield is of conventional all-steel construction with a large, turned rim, chiselled with cavalry battle scenes around a central medallion inscribed in gold koftgari ‘Sulta¯n Na¯der Sha¯h, 1142’

Around the edge, also in gold koftgari, are names of God interspersed with verses from the Qu’ran. The shield retains its original quilted lining of embroidered silk over a red cotton lining.

Na¯der or Na¯dir Shah Afshar, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, became shah of Persia, ruling from 1736–47 when he was assassinated by a group of Qajar and Afshar chiefs. He was the most celebrated warrior of his age, known as the Napoleon of Persia after his reliance on massed artillery and musketeers. Following the Afghan invasion of 1722 (ah 1135), he helped Shah Tahmasp Qolı¯ reconquer Isfahan in 1729 after at his decisive victory over the Afghans at Damghan in 1729, and was appointed viceroy in Khurasan, and allowed to strike his own coins, albeit anonymous ones. He proclaimed himself Shah in 1736. By 1738 (ah 1151), having defeated the last of the Afghan Hotaki dynasty, Na¯der Shah marched on the Mughal Empire, sacking Peshawar, Lahore, Kabul and Jalalabad (Bosworth 1996, 281–2). His coins from the Peshawar mint of this date bear the title Sulta¯n Na¯der (National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, S2001.8).

Another shield ascribed to Na¯der Shah is preserved among the royal treasures of Iran. It is a rhino hide shield adorned, possibly later in honour of the military hero, with spinels, emeralds, diamonds and rubies, perhaps looted together with the peacock throne from Delhi in 1739. The central spinel is thought to be the largest in the world weighing 225 cts (Meen & Tushingham 1968, 58). His personal tabarzin, decorated with his name and the title Sahib-i-Qiran together with verses from the Qu’ran is preserved in the National Museum, New Delhi, while a pair of vambraces bearing his name as Na¯der Qolı¯ is in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh (Elwell-Sutton 1979, 15–16, figs 17–18). The style and quality of the chiselled decoration of our shield is so closely comparable to the work of the celebrated axe maker, Lotf‘ali (Melikian Chirvani 1979) that it could be by the same hand, though his dated works range between 1734–40 (Finer 2019, no. 10). For another dated shield of the same type, compare one dated 1727 from the Stone collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 36.25.613, and for a later example dated 1792/3 in the Hermitage, St Petersburg no. BO 4308. This style of chiselled decoration in Persia appears in the late seventeenth century on a helmet dated 1677/8 in the Furusiyya Foundation, Vaduz (Mohamed 2008, 334), and for a discussion of its possible revival under the Qajars, see Alexander et al. 2015, 117–8.

Inscribed in gold koftgari ‘Sulta¯n Na¯der Sha¯h, 1142’ ١١٤٢

Danish private collection

A Rare Leg Defence, or Dizçek

late 15th century

Turkman, ak-Koyonlu. Steel and silver

The knee plate stamped with the Kayi tamga mark of the Hagia Irene arsenal

61 × 23 × 13 cm

PROVENANCE

Bears the mark of the Imperial Ottoman arsenal, the former church of Hagia Eirene, Istanbul

Probably dispersed from the arsenal by order of Sultan

Abdül Mecid I, 1839–40

Private collection, USA

This is the usual type of thigh and knee defence used by heavy cavalrymen of the Ottoman, Timurid and ak-Koyonlu armies. The knee plate is stamped with the Kayi tamga mark of the Hagia Irene arsenal. The knee plate is surrounded by riveted mail links, which are extended into a point of mail below the knee. The mail is half riveted, the solid links slightly faceted and flattened, the riveted links of round section wire with pointed overlaps and circular rivets. Compare Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 36.25.55, which has the Istanbul arsenal mark on a lead seal on its mail and has a similar garbled inscription on its main plate.

The mark of the Imperial Ottoman arsenal

A Fine Gold Decorated Tulwar

19 th century

16 Hilt Indian, Blade Ottoman. Steel and gold 93.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

In the large cartouches down the blade, in Arabic, the basmala, a Qur’anic quotation and an invocation to Muhammad:

[In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. “Help from God and speedy conquest! Bear thou these tidings to the faithful. (Qur’an 61:13) O Muhammad!]

In a shield-shaped cartouche, an invocation to a Beautiful Name of God:

[‘O Opener!’]

In the large cartouche down the blade, a Turkish couplet:

[Let Sunbiil Murad hang his bejewelled sword on (God’s) throne, May the eyes of those dear to him be bright until the Day of Summoning.]

An Anamorphic Candlestick

19 th century

17 India. Brass

22 × 8 × 5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

A Superb Pair of Saddle, or

Gser sga, mounts

16th – 17th century

Eastern Tibetan, or Chinese for the Tibetan market

Iron, silver, gilding

38 cm / 15 in × 28 cm / 11 in

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Copenhagen

The saddles of the eastern steppe and the Tibetan plateau from the fourth century onwards are renowned for their exquisite metal fittings. These saddle fittings belong to the rarer group with a narrow, square-topped pommel and a low, reclining cantle, comparable to two saddles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (nos 1997.214, 1998.316) and another in the Rubin Museum, New York. Both mounts are fretted with sinuous, four-clawed dragons within a spiral foliate ground at either side of a vajra, or thunderbolt, surrounded by a halo of flames, all mercury gilded over silver. The borders are plain and silvered.

Like the saddle in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (no. xxvih.30), the fretted decoration has additional relief, the dragons carved separately and inserted within the foliate fretwork. The pommel retains six of the original nails by which it was secured to its wooden saddle tree.

Comparable saddles include those in the Musée d’Ethnographie de Neuchâtel, Switzerland (no. 68.4.79) and one in Drepung Loseling Monastery, India, which is said to have been used by the Fifth Dalai Lama in the seventeenth century (Mullin, 1996, 153). Several towns in the Derge kingdom of eastern Tibet such as Horpo (Hepo, 河坡) were famous for this type of decorative fretted and gilded iron work, especially saddles, while very similar techniques were practised just over the border in the Jinchuan region of western Sichuan in China.

A Rare Medieval Tibetan Quiver

15th – 16th century

19 Tibet. Leather, lacquer, brass

81 × 24 × 8.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Hong Kong

Private collection, Holland

This is one of a small group of surviving medieval quivers from Tibet of which other examples can be seen in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (no. xxvib.141) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (no. 2001.37, LaRocca 2006, 190–2, nos 93–4, no. 2014.71, unpublished). The most complete of the series, retaining its full set of straps as well as the complete green thong network around the centre, is in a private collection (Hales 2013, 346–7, no. 834). Hales also illustrates a guardian divinity in the frescoes of the Jigie Lhakhang chapel, part of the Ngakpa Dratsang founded in 1419, the oldest part of the colleges of the monastery of Sera, Lhasa, showing a quiver of exactly the same type. The same decoration is found on contemporary bow cases and leather arm defences, such as Royal Armouries nos xxvib.145 and xxvia.279.

The back of the quiver

Made to hold arrows, this type of quiver was suspended at the right side of the archer by its own set of straps and belt. The quiver is open at the upper front for access to the arrows, held head upward with the fletchings at the flaring base. It is made of five original sections, a flat panel at the back running the full length, a convex panel making the lower two thirds of the front, a double band with characteristic crimps at either side forming the sides of the open upper section, a transverse panel at the front of the open section and a gusset closing the base of the quiver, which in this case is missing. The seams are all closed by flat green-stained leather laces in a braided cross stitch, and the upper section pane is fastened together by a series of brass rivets with quatrefoil washer, as well as a larger washer and loop for suspending a decorative tassel and amulet. A network of woven green leather thongs covers the middle section of the front, and fragments of the transverse bands retaining the upper suspension loop survives. The inside of the upper section is pierced with two holes for the attachment of a missing cover. The quiver is exquisitely decorated throughout in gold leaf covered in shellac, pigmented on the front and sides with the characteristic red-brown colour of the group, with swirls of floral ornament separated at the base by an arc of geometrical key-fret. The rear of the quiver is lacquered red with a spray of flowers in gold leaf springing from a base outlined by a band of key-fret. The upper section is lacquered black at the rear with a series of five flower heads with leaves and stems in gold leaf and red-brown shellac. Inside it is lacquered red, with three flower heads joined by scrolling stems and leaves in the same gold leaf.

A Pair of Lacquered Shin-guards,

or Suneate

Edo¯ period, c. 1865

Japan. Steel, gold and lacquer, the interior covered with gold leaf

37.5 × 24.5 × 13 cm each

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Japan

Private collection, Paris

This pair of suneate, or armour for the lower leg, is made of byakudan-nuri lacquered iron, their interior entirely covered with gold leaf. This type of shin-guards were associated with the ô-yoroi, a type of armour which was intended for the highest ranking lords of the Muromachi period, and was worn on horseback. The shape of the shin-guards with the lateral extension at the level of the knee made it possible to protect the vulnerable part of the rider’s thigh.

Greaves were an integral part of a samurai’s armor ensemble, which included various other components such as a helmet (kabuto), cuirass (do¯), arm guards (kote), and thigh guards (haidate). Together, these pieces formed a comprehensive protective armor set that was not only functional but also a display of the wearer’s social standing and identity.

A Ressei Menpo¯

Edo¯ period, c. 17th century

21 Japan, Iwai School. Iron, lacquer

21 cm × 17 cm × 15 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Japan

This red lacquered iron ressei type (烈勢面頬 or ‘fierce expression’) half-mask, or menpô, consists of 2 removable parts assembled by pins.

A Twenty-Four Plate Helmet by Myo¯chin Munemasa Nihojiro

Hoshi Kabuto

mid-Edo¯ period, 18 th century

PROVENANCE

John Anderson Collection (Anderson 1968, 41–2, no. 31) Private collection, Europe

Myo¯chin Munemasa was the son of the 24th Myo¯chin master, Munesuke, and was designated the 25th master on the death of his father about 1735. Like his father he assumed the title ‘premier armour expert of Japan’ and issued certificates (kiwame) for armours, attributing them or their components to historical master armourers (Chappelear 1987, 67–9). An armour in the collection of the Portland Art Museum (no. 2012.120) includes attributions dated 1749 by Munemasa of several of its parts to ancient masters. In addition he made armour of high quality himself, mainly in the medieval style which had become popular among the feudal nobles in the 18th century. His short period as 25th master probably accounts by the few signed works by this important master. Closely comparable is the helmet of the composite armour in the Worcester Art Museum (no. 1910.47.2).

Signed Myo¯chin Munemasa 明珍宗正 Japan. Iron, copper 35 × 48 × 40 cm

A Japanese Military Hat, or Jingasa

Edo¯ period, 19 th century

Japan. Wood, gold, bronze, lacquer 43.5 cm in diameter

PROVENANCE

Private collection, USA

The jingasa, or ‘camp hat,’ was a type worn by Japanese samurai warriors when traveling or encamped. Intended to protect from sun and rain, the hats were stylized with family crests and decoration.

The mon seen here is the Hiki, or bars, symbol; this variation was used by the Masaki and Sakuma families among others.

24

A Tanto, or Dagger

Edo¯ or Meiji period, 19 th century

Japan. Steel, lacquer, polychrome, rayskin, silk cord,  silver, gold

Signed [. . .]hiro saku

47cm / 18½

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

The blade of this tanto is chiselled with three bonji, and the ura shows an image of Fudo Myo-o standing on a rock, and is signed [. . .] hiro saku

The saya is finished in polished black lacquer with a very fine dusting of kinpun lacquer; the lower half is decorated with chrysanthemums in polychrome togidashi maki-e. The tsuka (hilt) is covered in same (rayskin) with lozenge pattern wrapping. The dagger’s metal fittings are all en suite and silver chiselled with a mass of chrsyanthemums with gilt details; the menuki modelled shows chrysanthemum blossoms floating on water.

A Ryu-Shinogi Omi-No-Yari, or Spear

Late Momoyama or early Edo¯ period, c. late 16th – early 17th century

Japan. Tamahagane, iron, silver, copper, wood, urushi, hemp

232 cm / 91.5 in; Blade length 113.5 cm / 45.5 in

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

Asuperb example of this imposing weapon, in Japan long bladed spears such as this are known as omi-no-yari. While they had blades exceeding 30cms in length, the blade of this exceptional Yari is over 113 cms in length. Large Yari such as this were used in warfare throughout Japanese history from the Muromachi (1333 - 1573) right up to the end of the Edo period (1615 - 1868). This Yari although unsigned (Mumei) probably dates to the late Momoyama to early Edo period (late 16th to early 17th century). Yari such as these were only carried by Samurai of rank, they were not only formidable weapons but also a symbol of considerable status.

This example is Ryu-shinogi in form - meaning it has a four-sided blade. It is in excellent condition and displays a suguha hamon (straight-tempered edge).

The blade is mounted in a fine Edo period koshirae consisting of a nagaye or shaft made from Japanese red oak (kashi). The foot of the shaft is fitted with an iron ferrule called a hirumaki and the blade is protected by a magnificent saya (sheath). This saya is carved from wood and finely lacquered in black, red and various metallic powders creating a patchwork design of clouds. Set against this background are two kamon (family crests), the first of the Meyui (eyes) was used by the Horio family and the second of a karabana (Chinese flower) was used by the Shibukawa family. The use of two kamon may indicate a joint branch or alliance between these two Samurai families.

26

A Dagger, or Tanto

Edo¯ period, dated 1805

Signed Suishinsei Masahide with kao and koukuin seal, and dated Bunka ni nen hachi gatsu nichi (1805), 水心子正秀, 文化二年八月日

Japan. Steel, gold, silver, wood and lacquer

48.5 × 4 cm

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, USA

The blade is of osoraku zukuri form, an unusual type with an extra large point or kissaki, placing the dividing line or yokote at the ecentre of the blade, originated by the sixteenth-century smith Shimada Sukemune 島田助宗, who carved the characters 恐 らく on one of his blades of this form which was said to have belonged to the Sengoku general Katagiri Katsumoto (1556–1615). It is carved with the Buddhist bonji (Sanskrit character) kiriiku, for Amida Nyorai and Senju Kannon, and with a horimono of Juro¯jin, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. It is signed Suishinsei Masahide with kao and koukuin seal, and dated Bunka ni nen hachi gatsu nichi (1805), 水心子 正秀, 文化二年八月日.

Suishinshi Masahide is a highly important late Edo¯ smith, known as the founder of the Shinshinto era of sword production and of the school of his own name. He was born in 1750 in Akayuzai 赤湯 在 (now Nanyo¯ city, Yamagata), son of a samurai. His name as a child was Sanjiro¯ 三治郎, but his father died young, and he and his mother moved to live with a relative Suzuki Gonjiro¯ 鈴木権次郎 and he was given the name Suzuki Saburo¯ Iehide 鈴木三 郎宅英. He studyied sword forging under Shitahara Yoshihide 下原吉英 from the age of 18, first signing blades as Iehide 宅秀 then as Hidekuni 英国. By 1774 he had become a sword maker for the Akimoto family of Yamagata and changed his signature to Kawabe Gihachiro¯ Masahide 川部儀八郎正秀, with an art name of Suishinshi 水心子, ‘lake spirit’. In 1781 he moved to Edo¯ to study the Bizen style under Ishido Korekazu and became an swordsmith for the

vassals of Tatebayashi in Hamamachi town in Bushu, Edo¯ (now Nihonbashi, Tokyo), and taught over one humdred pupils, including Taikei Naotane 大慶直胤 and Hosokawa Masayoshi 細川正義 who became renowned smiths in their own right. He officially retired in 1818, passing his name to his son Sadahide 貞秀, but continued to sign blades as Amahide 天秀, collaborating with his son. He died on 27 September 1825 at the age of 76. His early career, 1774–1789, is characterised by the So¯shu-den style where while he was inspired by the ancient works by Masamune 正 宗 and Shizu 志津. In mid-career he mostly worked in the do¯ran-midare ‘large-wave temper’ style of Tsuda Echizen-no-kami Sukehiro 津田越前守助広 or the wide wavy hamon of Inoue Shinkai 井上真改. Around this time he changed his approach completely and published his reasons for it in Toko Byoron. He observed that swords with a hade (wide and gaudy) style hamon tend to break, so decided to abandon the manufacture of artistic blades and return to the practical excellence of Kamakura period blades that cut well and were durable.

The hilt is covered in same and bound with black silk braid and has a matching set of fuchi kashira in silver carved with waves highlighted with gold dots. The kozuka is decorated to match, as are the kuchigane and kojiri for the scabbard, which is covered in plain black lacquer.

A Large Pierced Japanese Arrowhead

early Edo¯ period, c. 1650 – 1675

Signed Minamoto Yoshinobu saku ( 源吉信作 )Umetada ( 梅忠 ) school, Kyôto Japan. Steel

57 x 5.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Japan

Private collection, France

This votive arrowhead, or yanone, is decorated in openwork with the incantation Nam myo¯ho¯ renge kyo¯ 南無妙法蓮華 経†of Nichiren 日蓮†Buddhism.

Its maker Minamoto Yoshinobu saku 源吉信作†Umetada 梅忠† school, Kyôto was active during the third quarter of the 17th century, and was particularly known for the quality of his horimono ( 彫刻 ).

Ceremonial arrowheads in this period of Japanese history were part of a traditional practice known as ‘Yaoya,’ in which gifts were exchanged between feudal lords, samurai, and other elites. The arrowheads were often exquisitely crafted and adorned, serving as tokens of honor and allegiance.

During the Edo period (1603 – 1868), Japan experienced a period of relative peace and stability under the Tokugawa shogunate. With warfare less frequent, focus shifted from military prowess to the cultivation of artistic and cultural pursuits. Ceremonial practices like Yaoya emerged as a way to maintain social order, display loyalty, and reinforce the society’s hierarchical structure.

The exchange of Yaoya arrowheads played a role in fostering political alliances, demonstrating loyalty, and solidifying relationships between feudal lords (daimyo), vassals, and samurai. The act of presenting and receiving these ceremonial gifts carried deep cultural and social significance, helping to maintain a sense of order and unity.

As the Edo period progressed, Yaoya practices continued to evolve, reflecting changes in society and politics. However, by the late Edo period, Japan began to experience internal and external pressures that eventually led to the collapse of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial rule during the Meiji period (1868-1912). With these changes, the significance of ceremonial arrowheads and similar practices gradually diminished, marking the end of a distinct era in Japanese history.

Ceremonial arrowheads from the 17th century serve as valuable historical artifacts, providing insight into the social, cultural, and political dynamics of feudal Japan today; they offer a glimpse into the elaborate rituals, symbolism, and artistic craftsmanship of the time, showcasing the intersection of practicality and aesthetics.

A Group of Twenty Arrowheads,

or Yanone, in a Wooden Rack

Edo¯ period, 19 th century

Japan. Steel

29.5 × 23 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Japan

Private collection, France

A Rare Dragon Yamato Utsubo, or Quiver, with Ya, Arrows

mid-Edo¯ period, 18 th century

Japan. Leather, wood, lacquer, bamboo 98.3 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, France

The traditional open ebira type quiver was carried on the back with the arrowheads downwards and the arrows and flights clearly visible. The utsubo type is said to have been developed in order to conceal the number of arrows held from an enemy. They were carried on the back with the arrow flights resting on an internal bamboo raft. Lacquered examples, as opposed to leather-clad and woven rattan example.

The utsubo (quiver) of wood, lacquered in black, red, gold, and silver hiramaki-e with a three clawed dragon amid swirling clouds, the central waist portion with a band of red lacquered leather, and the removable cover at the bottom held in place by a red lacquered leather band. The quiver contains twelve bamboo ya (arrows) fletched with feathers and painted in gold lacquer.

A Silver-encrusted Processional

Partisan of Courtly Quality

second half of the 16th century

Italy or France. Steel and silver

60.5 × 13 cm

PROVENANCE

Galerie Fischer, Luzern, 24 June 1974, lot 18

The Boyd collection, Christie’s South Kensington, Fine Antique Arms and Armour, 12 December 1997, lot 273 Private collection, United Kingdom Private collection, USA

The silver work on the Partisan head compares with the silver encrusted armour of the future Henri II of France made by Francesco Negroli, completed in 1547. However, the shape of the head suggests it dates from slightly later, the second half of that century.

Evolved from a weapon of war, by the second half of the 16th century the elegantly proportioned partisan was increasingly re-purposed, now to be one of the preferred types of hafted weapons arming the elite bodies of finely equipped and uniformed troops that provided the personal guards or armed retinues of European royalty and nobility.

The present partisan remains an obvious weapon but our attention is drawn to the blued panel, also forming a lightly punched and engraved ground of vegetal scrollwork to the damascened silver ornament within it. Both sides of the panel are bordered by double lines of minute silver beading that repeat the overall contour of the head, these continue as the frames of two pairs of lunette panels and two ovals, the lower of these set within a compressed matching inner framework.

The lunettes contain differing small trophies-of-arms, in low relief on a contrasting engraved scrollwork ground and differing again over the respective sides. On one face the medial oval is filled with the relief figure of a classical Roman warrior, probably Mars the God of War, and on the reverse, a complementary female figure, perhaps his sister Bellona, a Goddess of War or Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom. Within the framework beneath and differing over the respective sides, more elaborate relief designs of trophies-ofwar each involve naked captive figure seated amid the design, a pair silver-encrusted sprigs beneath.

The head develops at the base to form a moulded tubular socket, finely decorated with a silverencrusted spiral pattern of minutely beaded lines enclosing bands of foliage inhabited by birds, and all on a ground of punched circles.

The abundant use of beaded silver lines to segment and frame silver relief motifs is a feature of the magnificent parade armour produced in Milan throughout the second half of the 16th century. The trophies-of-arms and classical figures decorating the present partisan are again of Italian mid-16th century origin and again are a recurring element of richly damascened Milanese parade armour and weapons. Albeit on very different scales, parallels can be seen between the silver classical figural subjects and silver frameworks among the range of Milanese armours made for members of the Spanish Royal Court over the succeeding half of the century.

A Close Helmet for a Louis XIII Cuirassier Armour

c. 1620 – 30

France. Steel, copper alloy, leather 45 × 29.5 × 31 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, France

Following the outset of the 17th century, French and Flemish field armour for cavalry use included helmets with increasingly tall and frequently rearswept skulls formed of two halves joined by a narrow comb.

The present close helmet would have been worn with a heavy cuirassier armour, the equivalent of the fully armoured knights of the previous century.

A Rare Early Medieval Spur

10 th – 11th century

North-west Europe. Iron, silver

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Belgium

The ‘Chivalric Code’, the concept of Christian Knighthood pivotal throughout the medieval literary ‘Romances’ had at its root the tenet of the winning of a knight’s spurs, the tangible symbol of acceptance into a Knightly Order. This key principle of investiture is certainly significant in an appreciation of the present early spur.

Up to the middle of the 12th century the prick-spur had a straight-sided heel band, thereafter it is seen progressively to curve beneath the wearer’s ankle bone. By the mid-11th century their distinctive spike goads tend either to be pyramidal or variously ribbed or conical, the latter being so in the present example. The present spur conforms to the design conventions of the 10th and 11th centuries, primarily the heelband being entirely straight-sided. The respective sides terminate in flats hammered horizontal to the plane of the band and each is pierced with a single rectangular slot for a strap. A small ring projects vertically from the rear of the heel and the goad is formed of a conical neck outwardly swelling to form a globular collar and terminating in a short conical spike.

The outer surfaces of the heel-band are faceted and inlaid with a close-set longitudinal design of narrow silver lines throughout. The neck and the tip of the goad are inlaid with matching silver bands and the collar is studded with three bands of silver nodules, an ornament fashionable among spurs of knightly quality in France and Anglo-Saxon England. The profusion of silver inlay, rather than lesser pewter, suggests that the knightly owner was a man of substance.

This early medieval spur is preserved in exceptional and professionally conserved condition.

Eleven well-preserved 10th-12th century iron spurs of this type, mostly with conical goads, were found in the Thetford area, Norfolk. Of these, five have heelbands with single slot terminals such as the present example.

The first spurs fitted with a multi-spiked rowel in place of a single goad emerge in the early 13th century, worn parallel to the existing prick-spur until entirely succeeding the latter from the early 14th century.

Much modern scholarship concerning the development and decoration of the early medieval spur comes to us through dateable archaeology, although one notable early source exists in the Bayeux Tapestry, the Norman embroidered chronicle of their invasion of England in 1066 (commenced in the decade following the invasion, perhaps circa 1077). While spurs are shown in widely varying

degrees of detail in the Tapestry, a fine pre-invasion vignette illustrates Duke William and Harold Earl of Wessex hunting together, William wears prick-spurs with a clearly defined pyramidal or conical goad. Later in the work, William’s half-brother, Bishop Odo, is shown amid the battle wearing prick-spurs which appear to have a two-stage goad somewhat comparable to that of the present spur.

A Carolingian Period Frankish

Prick-Spur

8 th century

The Frankish lands, modern France, Belgian and Germany

Iron, copper inlay

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Belgium

The term ‘Carolingian’ was coined in modern times to denote the powerful historic dynasty which in 732AD defeated the Muslim incursions and latterly ended the Merovingian dominance of Northern and Central Europe. This new empire shaped what is now modern Europe, it was named after the victorious Frankish warrior ruler Charles Martel (‘the Hammer’), father of King Pepin III and grandfather of Charlemagne (subsequently King of both the Franks and the Lombards, and created Emperor of the Romans by the Pope in 800).

Within Charlemagne’s reign (768-814) the territories of the newly created Holy Roman Empire enjoyed a cultural awakening unlike any which had preceded it since the fall of ancient Rome. It was in the period of the reigns of Charlemagne and his successors

that a ‘Carolingian Renaissance’ evolved, to which subsequent early medieval French and German literature and heroic song looked as the birthplace of the ‘Chivalric Code’, the concept of Christian Knighthood. An important tenet of this code, most notable in an appreciation of the present very early spur, was the winning of a knight’s spurs, the tangible symbol of solemn acceptance into Knighthood.

The general design of the prick-spur was predicated on a single projecting spiked goad issuant from a simple heel-band, it was derived from the versions conceived in ancient Rome and the ancient wooden spur which used a goad made of a natural thorn.

The present example is dateable in its construction by the form of its goad, a short bullet-shaped spike projecting on the same plane as its U-shaped heelband. The arms of the band are of plano-convex section and its respective terminals each retain a transverse stud originally attaching a strap and buckle.

In the second instance this spur can be dated according to the sophistication of its linear copper alloy inlay, which is arranged over the outer surfaces of the heel-band as a series of narrow longitudinal lines close-set in decorative groups, segmented by file-cut mouldings; the inlaid pattern continues over the neck of the goad and over the heel terminals.

This inlaid pattern compares closely with similarly inlaid grave goods from dateable archaeological sites. The most prevalent among these decorated finds are the cross-guards and pyramidal pommels of knightly swords typical of the Carolingian period, together with the paired loop mounts (riemendurchzüge) from swordbelts. Among the finds most closely related to this spur are the Donzdorf-type and Bülach-type pommels, and the Hemmingen-type belt mounts all belonging to the classification of German Carolingian finds. The record of these finds is held in the Germanisches Museum, Munich.

Unlike almost all of the commensurate finds of the Carolingian period, the present iron spur is in an almost uniquely fine state of preservation. The inlay has survived nearly entirely intact and the iron surfaces show very little oxidisation damage. The spur has been professionally conserved and is otherwise untouched. Another, very closely related but much corroded, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (23.192.2).

A Pair of Rowel Spurs

c. 1630

England. Iron and silver

16.5 × 20 cm on mount

PROVENANCE

Private collection, USA

By the beginning of the 17th century the shape of spurs began to change from those often with straight necks to ones in which the neck arched up and then down, although the rowel was still held comfortably away from the wearer’s heel. Riding was an essential everyday activity for many and ordinary working spurs were commonplace, yet they also offered opportunities for the display of wealth, fashion or taste; as in past centuries, spurs were often made in complex forms and given a variety decoration.

This fine pair of spurs represents the epitome of style and quality for an English gentleman in the 1630s. Such spurs would have been worn over riding boots.

A Pair of Rowel-Spurs

c. 1600

France. Iron, gold

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

French spurs of this period decorated and finished to this exceptional level of attention suggest that they were made for a member of the royal court. They were very likely decorated for wear with a matching magnificent armour, as was the practice in France and Flanders in the second half of the 16th century and early 17th century. Spurs were also fashionably worn for luxurious social occasions and with everyday court dress alone, identifying the wearer with the status and glamour of the chevalier or knight, sentiments harking back to an earlier French ‘golden age’.

Not surprisingly, spurs of this quality are very seldom found outside of museum collections.

The present spurs are resplendent in the brilliance of their original and noticeably heavy fire-gilt finish covering their entire surfaces. The heel-bands each terminate in a pair of obliquely set loops, carrying a large bevelled buckle and smaller strap-hook on the outer side and a corresponding pair of hooks on the inner. At the rear of each band, a short balustermoulded neck develops to form a recurved rowel-

box set at a downward angle, its upper sides deeply bevelled. The rowels are cut with particular delicacy to form pierced discs drawn-out to twelve slender points.

The spurs are etched in a manner characteristic of the repertoire found on the finest French and Flemish armour of the period, but unusually the etching covers the complete extent of their surfaces. The rowels, together with the other small elements, are decorated with small border ornaments involving foliage, flowerheads and guilloche motifs. The decoration of the outer surfaces of the heel-bands takes the form of stippled panels each filled with a frieze of foliage and boldly sized flowerheads; notably this outer etching is given greater than usual depth. The etching on the inner surfaces is inverted, perhaps mistakenly, but is otherwise conventional, formed as a pair of meandering leafy long scrolls issuant from an elaborate cartouche charged with a demon mask, all on a cross-hatched ground and set within double linear borders.

The added depth of the etching on the outer surfaces of the heel-bands is significant with the discovery under magnification of sparse traces of pigment within some small etched details. It would appear from the uniform tone of the gilding that the pigments were removed long ago, certainly deliberately and with great care.

Another pair of French gilt iron spurs, very closely related to the present pair are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (04.3.171). It is most likely that the two pairs were both constructed and decorated by the same hands.

At first inspection the two pairs differ primarily in that the etched outer surfaces of the pair in New York are picked-out in polychrome paints, effecting an extraordinarily rich finish. The pair under discussion, however, would seem originally also to have been painted: the depth and technique of the etching on the outer surfaces of both pairs of heel-bands is identical and clearly intended

to retain painted detail. Concerning the present pair, the consistent tone of their gilding suggests that the paint was removed long ago, deliberately and with great care.

The etched interior designs on the heel-bands of both pairs of spurs are nearly identical, as is the style of the work.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue entry for (one of) the pair of etched, gilt and painted spurs referenced above, includes the following remarks and observations; the same are naturally applicable to the pair under present discussion.

“The etched, gilt and painted decoration of this spur indicates its French origin and a date from the reign of Henri IV of France (1589-1610). Examples of polychromed French armor are extremely rare and are preserved in only to harnesses: a complete armor with chanfron and saddle, in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe (inv. no. D.5), and an incomplete armor from the Pauilhac Collection, now in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (inv. no. P.O. 547). Even closer to the decoration on this spur is a wellpreserved gorget in the Musée de Condé, Chantilly, which is etched with trophies of arms, foliage and a monogram, heavily gilt and painted red and green. Presumably these spurs were decorated to match an armor like that in Karlsruhe or Paris”.

A Pair of Rowel-Spurs

c. 1675

Germany. Iron, silver

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Belgium

The relatively compact star-shaped rowel and the rowel-box with its supporting neck set at opposing acute angles are each developmental characteristics of spurs produced throughout northern Europe during the second quarter of the 17th century.

The present pair of spurs are decorated to striking effect over their full outer surfaces, the rowels included, with an extremely close-set diagonal pattern of fine lines arranged as bands segmented by beaded lines. The pattern is framed on the arms of the heel-band by the flourish of an acanthus leaf, at the junction with the rowel neck and again behind the forward loop terminals.

This bold style of silver-damascening is typically German and Netherlandish, produced from about 1600 onward in workshops primarily concerned with damascening the hilts of rapiers, hunting-swords, daggers and their matching belt and saddlery mounts. That pairs of spurs should be matched with these prestigious hilts was the natural development of male fashion as a display of rank and wealth.

The fashion for wearing spurs such as those discussed here is evidenced in the formal portraiture of the period, even when removed from any equestrian context. Spanning the approximate period 162060 spurs had taken on the additional role of male jewellery, worn to project the wearer’s high social standing, over time being taken up more widely by those for whom rank was an aspiration.

37

A Silver-Hilted Small-Sword made for a Child, in the Rococo Fashion

c. 1770 – 80

Provincial North-western Europe, possibly Dunkirk Steel, silver 63.5 × 6.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom

Asimilarly diminutive sword with a very closely comparable silver hilt is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (34.57.3). That example is struck with Paris silver marks for 1758-59. The rococo styling of both of these solid silver hilts is almost identical, but in the instance of our provincially marked hilt it is clear that by circa 1770-80 it had been made in the image of the earlier Paris fashion.

The quality of the present hilt is nonetheless delightful, a perfect emulation of an adult sword of the period. The blade is entirely functional, if hopefully not purposeful. As is well-known from the portraiture of the period, children were dressed as miniaturised adults and boys would naturally be required to carry a sword as a reflection of their parents’ position in society.

A Cuisse for the Left Leg, in the Augsburg Fashion, in the Manner of Jörg Sorg

c. 1550

Germany, Augsburg. Steel, gold. 42 cm / 16.5 in × 16 cm / 6.3 in

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Europe

This rare element of richly decorated armour belongs to one of a series of armours coming from the Augsburg workshop of the distinguished armour etcher Jörg Sorg the Younger (1522 - 1603). Portions of a garniture of armour attributed to the same workshop, dating from circa 1550 - 55, are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (04.3.282), and this garniture is decorated with an etched and gilt pattern very closely associated with that on the present cuisse.