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Sword hilt
Unknown - Enlarge image
Sword hilt
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1600-1625 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Iron, with silver incrustation
- Credit Line:
Given by W. G. Ullathorne
- Museum number:
M.472&A-1936
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 56e, case 9
Object Type
This basket-hilt of blackened iron encrusted with silver is of a form known in the early 17th century as an 'Irish' hilt. At that period 'Irish' also meant the Highland Scots, who were celebrated for using a basket-hilted broadsword of similar type. The guard, which protects the hilt, and the pommel, which acts as a counterweight to the blade, are heavily overlaid with silver flowers and foliage. This was a characteristically English type of decoration at this period. The blade is engraved and inlaid in gold with religious mottoes in Latin and the royal arms of James I. The design includes a crowned S and an orb and cross - devices used by the cutlers of Solingen.
Trade
The blade is also stamped with a cutler's mark - a unicorn's head. This mark was used by Clemens Horn (1580-1630), one of the most prominent Solingen cutlers. Solingen, in central Germany, had a very large export trade and supplied specially commissioned blades.
People
A number of similarly decorated blades have been recorded, including one in Windsor Castle dated 1617 and traditionally said to have belonged to James I.
