This is a knife used for chopping bones and ripping flesh from animals killed during a hunt. The knife was probably originally part of a set carried in a trousse, a multi-socketed sheath worn on a belt. The set might contain a variety of tools such as saws to cut bone, wide-bladed knives with pointed ends to remove flesh and delicate knives to cut small pieces of meat which were served on a flat knife called a presentoir.

Knives were among the many creations of cutlers, who also made table cutlery, pocket and pen knives, scriveners’ knives, hunting tools, scissors, razors, nutcrackers, swords and even surgical instruments.

Large game hunts were rule-bound and ritualised. The elaborate decoration on hunting weapons gives an indication of how important they were to elite society. Large estates maintained stocks of game to feed their households. Stag and wild boar were revered for their strength. Hunting them was both a means to an end and a symbolic ceremony. Accompanied by music and feasting, hunts were social occasions celebrated in purpose-built lodges. The rituals of the hunt reinforced the hierarchy. Attendants carried out specialised tasks from the maintenance of dogs to the carving of meat. Attendants dissected the kill with precision and served small pieces of raw meat to distinguished guests.