Knife

Object Type
This knife would have been carried in a leather case together with a matching fork. The blade with its slight curve and rounded end is a typical Sheffield product. Ivory handles in the form of ladies dressed in contemporary costume were very fashionable in the last quarter of the 17th century.

Manufacture
The two principal centres for the manufacture of cutlery in the 17th century were Sheffield, Yorkshire, and London. Although the blade of this knife was made in Sheffield, it is stamped with the dagger mark used by the Cutlers Company of London. The maker Vigo whose name also appears on the blade is not recorded as a London cutler and was most probably a Sheffield maker. The improper use of London marks was not uncommon in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1624 a Sheffield cutler working in London had some of his knives confiscated because 'they had the dagger counterfeited upon them being Sheffield knives'.

Trade
The facial features on the woman forming the handle are Indian in character, suggesting that the carving was done by a non-European craftsman. It was probably made in Goa on the west coast of India at a time when it was under Portuguese rule. Carvings in ivory like this example were made as luxury items for export to Europe in the latter part of the 17th century, and were done by local Goanese craftsmen.