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Knife thumbnail 2
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Knife

dated 1687 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Britain (made)

This knife is probably one of a pair forming a set of wedding knives. Both are probably made in Britain, and the present knife only is dated 1687. The handle is carved in the form of a woman breat-feeding her baby.


Object details

Categories
Arms & Armour
Metalwork
Tools & Equipment
Accessories
Sculpture
Object type
Knife
Materials and techniques
Steel with carved ivory and silver mounts
Steel
Ivory
Silver
Forging (Metal Forming)
Carving
Brief description
Knife (one of a pair), ivory, steel and silver, carved with the figure of a woman with a baby, probably British, dated 1687
Physical description
Knife with an ivory handle carved with the figure of a standing woman in contemporary dress, with a veil, baring one breast, carrying a smiling baby, in swaddling clothes, who holds up its hand towards her. The silver ferrule is engraved 'M Froman' and dated 1687.
Dimensions
  • Whole length: 18.4cm
  • Ivory alone length: 7.1cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'M Froman' [and] '1687' (Engraved on the ferrule)
  • dated 1687 (ferrule)
Object history
Bought in 1893 from the Bateman Heirlooms sale (the property of the late W. Bateman Esq. and T. Bateman Esq.. Lomberdale House, Youlgrave, Derbyshire, at Sotheby's London, 14 April, lot 41). Purchased by Mr F.E. Whelan, London, acting as an agent on behalf of the Museum. Said to be from 'Mr Brummell's Collection 1850' in the Sotheby's sale catalogue. However this collection is not mentioned specifically in Douce 1796, which is also cited there, and has not been traced.
Subjects depicted
Nurses
Baby
Woman
Summary
This knife is probably one of a pair forming a set of wedding knives. Both are probably made in Britain, and the present knife only is dated 1687. The handle is carved in the form of a woman breat-feeding her baby.
Associated object
522-1893 (Pair)
Bibliographic references
  • ‘List of Works of Art Acquired by the South Kensington Museum, During the Year 1893, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition with Appendix and Indices’. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the South Kensington Museum 1892-1895, London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1895, p. 69
  • Hayward, John F., English Cutlery Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century (Victoria & Albert Museum), London, 1957 p. 15, pl. X
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 p. 436
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, p. 436, cat. no. 471
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
523-1893

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Record createdMarch 2, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O109789/knife-unknown/
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