1798) Antique Daggers

1798) SUPERB DAGGERS CIRCA 1560-1640: Priced to sell much lower than auction house prices. For a connoisseur collector who demands the best at a bargain basement price.

Introduction: The 1600s accelerated the decline and importance of the dagger and increased the sword‚ popularity. Daggers in certain parts of Europe, namely the north, were still used for dress during festive occasions. The exception was the left-hand dagger and the stiletto.

Discussion: Left-hand daggers (a modern term) were essential to the fencing strategy. Left-hand daggers are used in conjunction with the rapier to maximize a combatant’s‚ swordsmanship. The left-hand dagger was used to parry, block, trap, and redirect the opponent‚ sword to create an opening for the rapier to administer the “coup de grace.” However, a good swordsman could also reverse the roles and use the rapier to set up the left-hand dagger for the finishing stroke. In the past, swords were thicker, heavier, and stronger because opponents on the battlefield used armor. Because the rapier and left-hand dagger were civilian implements of defense with no armor involved, the sword could be much lighter and wielded more effectively with one hand. Left-hand daggers were usually made with three different hilt types:

(1) Cruciform shape: The quillons were horizontal, stout, long, and sometimes swelled at the tips.

(2) Bent downward: In an effort to trap the opponent‚ blade with a simple twist of the wrist, most left-hand daggers had downward-turned quillons. Downward-turned quillons also redirected the opponent‚ blade to create an opening to attack.

(3) Opposite bend: In some less common examples, one quillon was turned downward to trap the opponent‚ blade, and the other quillon bent in the opposite direction (facing upward) to function as a knuckle guard and protect the swordsman‚ hand. A protective ring or shell at the quillon block served the purpose of protecting the hand from a redirected blade that could have slid down and disabled the swordsman‚ hand. The blade tapers to the tip, most with a medial ridge for added strength. Most blades were double-edged and had a ricasso. Some blades were pierced with decorative patterns or cut with intricate indentations (see page 328‚ #15-A in my book). These features were not just for decoration; they served the same purpose as a fuller on a sword. They made the dagger lighter without sacrificing the rigidity or strength of the blade. Contrary to what the Victorians thought, the piercings on the blade were not for poison but simply for decoration. Most rapier blades’ decoration mirrored the decoration of the left-hand dagger blade.

The left-hand dagger lost its appeal after circa 1675, with the exception of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and sections of Italy under Spanish control, which still had a very strong tradition of fencing. The left-hand dagger construction reached its zenith circa 1675.

THE DAGGERS UNDER DISCUSSION:

A) A GILDED AND ETCHED LEFT-HAND DAGGER CIRCA 1590: Decorated blade with a cross potent. Possibly French, perhaps Italian. Constructed with a broad blade of stiff diamond shape tapering to an acute tip, and a short rectangular ricasso with short slender fullers on each side at the edge of the ricasso.

Description: Constructed with an iron chiseled hilt with a pair of downward curved quillons of rounded flat section widening at the tips with button, foilage decoration, side ring swelling slightly at the middle toward the bottom, a flattened barrel-shaped pommel, hilt decorated en suite, an early grip possibly original with turks heads on each end of the wire grip. Hilt with original gilt. Tapering blade of stiff-diamond section decorated with a cross potente (on each side) and eyelashes facing each other.

Condition: The dagger is in exceptional condition.

Dimensions: Total length: 19 inches.

Provenance: By tradition, brought back by an American GI stationed in Germany after WWII in his duffle bag.

Superb condition and priced at under $3,400.

B) A VERY FINE LEFT-HAND DAGGER OF SUPERB CONSTRUCTION CIRCA 1560: This dagger is much more impressive in person than in pictures.

Description: Superbly constructed with a checkered Norman pommel # 15. The pommel with an extended final point, possibly original wooden grip with wire wrapping and Turks heads at opposite ends of the grip, long broad blade of stiff diamond-shaped tapering to an acute tip with no pitting, a medial ridge running from the tip to the square quillon block. An iron downward-turning guard expanding at the tips into the shape and decoration of the pommel, with double fluting at the quillon block center.

Approximate dimensions: 17 inches.

Condition: Very good condition.

Provenance: From an important French collection:

Priced to sell quickly at under $2,900!!!

C) SAXON LEFT-HAND DAGGER CIRCA 1600:

Discussion: The word opulence is defined as great wealth or luxuriousness. For opulence in the late Renaissance, look no further than the Armory of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden, Germany. With great wealth since the 12th century from mining silver, salt, and other metals such as bismuth, cobalt, copper, iron, gold, nickel, tin, and metal workings, they spared no expense in tournaments, social functions, and above all with the elite aristocratic members of the Trabantenleibgarde. The Trabantenleibgarde was a light cavalry that served as the personal guards of the prince electors. They were dressed in black doublets and yellow trunk hose and equipped with the period’s finest opulent arms and armor. An unpublished document dated 1606 and housed at the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen.

Description: Superbly constructed with a Norman pommel # 56. The pommel with a slightly extended final point, possibly original wooden grip, long broad blade of stiff diamond-shaped tapering to an acute tip, a medial ridge running from the tip to the square recasso. An iron horizontal guard expanding at the tips into the shape of the pommel.

Condition: The dagger is in good condition. Possibly a tomb find.

Provenance: From a fine European collection.

Priced to sell quickly at under $2,000!!!

D) EARLY GILDED AND CHISELED FRENCH LEFT-HAND DAGGER CIRCA 1560:

Discussion: A very elegant ground find in good condition. Yes, it’s not mint, but if it were, it would be in a museum and not in the collectors market. If in the collectors market, it would sell for 4 to 5 times the price it’s being offered at! I like ground finds. Ground finds have a certain mystique about them and sell for much less than they should.

Description: Constructed with a Norman pommel 72 and downward-turning flat chiseled decorated quillons that expand at the tips, a long, broad blade of stiff diamond-shaped (corroded but strong) tapering to an acute tip, a fuller running from the tip to the square recasso, ricasso with a thumb rest. Original grip with ferrules.

Length: Approximately 13.5 inches.

Condition: Has retained about 90% of its gilding on the hilt. Blade corroded but strong.

Priced to sell at under $1,000. A lot of value and class for the money.

All my items come with the following:

–Free shipping.

–10-day review period.

–Certificate of Authenticity.

–Free autographed copy of my book if you do not have one.

I believe you will be very….very…. pleased.