knife thumbnail 1
Not on display

knife

Knife
1631 (made)
Place of origin

Handle of silver with engraved designs, the engraved lines inlaid with black composition. The finial and bolster gilded. The handle is engraved on one side with an allegorical scene of Abundance (an empress with a sceptre and a servant beside her converses with a naked female figure who stands before her; in the sky above a crown, mitre and sceptre); below this scene is a rabbit and a naked woman seated on a barrel. On the other side of the handle, the allegorical figure of Goodness (an angel crowns a seated female figure with a wreath; the woman holds up a round-bottomed flask in one hand and a package in the other); below this scene is a rabbit and a naked, seated, female figure, her back to the viewer, who holds up a thunderbolt.

Object details

Object type
Titleknife (generic title)
Brief description
Netherlands, silver and gilded silver with a steel blade, the handle dated 1631, the blade marked with cutler's mark 'R' a crown above.
Physical description
Handle of silver with engraved designs, the engraved lines inlaid with black composition. The finial and bolster gilded. The handle is engraved on one side with an allegorical scene of Abundance (an empress with a sceptre and a servant beside her converses with a naked female figure who stands before her; in the sky above a crown, mitre and sceptre); below this scene is a rabbit and a naked woman seated on a barrel. On the other side of the handle, the allegorical figure of Goodness (an angel crowns a seated female figure with a wreath; the woman holds up a round-bottomed flask in one hand and a package in the other); below this scene is a rabbit and a naked, seated, female figure, her back to the viewer, who holds up a thunderbolt.
Dimensions
  • From tip of handle to tip of blade length: 22cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'ABVNDANTIA' (Latin, 'abundance') engraved on one side of the handle; 'BONITAS' (Latin, 'goodness') on the other side of the handle.
  • 'MAGDALENA WILLIARTS 1631' engraved on the edge of the handle (so the words are legible when the knife is used).
  • On the blade: cutler's mark, the initial 'R' with a crown above.
Bibliographic reference
Hollstein, F. W. H., Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts c. 1450-1700, vol. IV (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1951).
Collection
Accession number
M.613-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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