Description:
One of a set of twelve steel scimitar-blade knives (and ten forks) fitted with wrythen (spirally twisted) silver and turquoise enamel over copper sheath handles fitted with silver ferrules and caps. The enamel is a glass-like composition inlaid as a powder, which fuses after being fired in a kiln. The silver wire twisted around the handle adds both decoration and support. Specialising in making blades, cutlers trained as apprentices for up to seven years, working for a freeman cutler who housed and fed them. In England a cutler would have to prove himself as bladesmith and hafter (maker of handles) in order to obtain the freedom of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers, gain his own mark and set up his own business. Many cutlers acted as middlemen who bought blades from bladesmiths, handles from hafters and sheaths from sheathers. They assembled the cutlery themselves and sold them under their own names. Until the 17th century, it was the custom for guests to bring their personal cutlery, but by the 18th century knives and forks were provided in matching sets by the host. The basic form of knives and forks had also become standardised by this date. By the mid-18th century, table knives and forks were usually made in sets and decorated to match the rest of the cutlery. By the end of the 18th century the standard pistol-shaped haft (handle) gave way to straighter, flat-ended hafts; forks generally had smaller hafts. The knife blade is usually of sabre, or scimitar, shape. The steel blades and shanks have a 'tang' or rod at the base that fits into the hollow handle, which is then packed with resin. The junction between haft and blade is fitted with a small metal collar, or 'ferrule.'
Subjects:
Copper; Enamel and enameling Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.417.22 |
