"Rondel" Dagger
Cultureperhaps
English
Dateabout 1480
Mediumsteel, iron and wood
Dimensions2.2 × 43.8 × 4.9 × 4.8 × 32.4 cm (7/8 × 17 1/4 × 1 15/16 × 1 7/8 × 12 3/4 in.), 10 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.667
DescriptionProbably a Thames find. Long, triangular, single-edged hollow-ground steel blade with a slightly rounded back. The grip consists of two wooden plaques swollen at center, fastened transversely with an iron pin. Plaques are flat backed; the straight-sided tang separates them and does not extend to their edges; the gap is inlaid on the edge-side with a granulated organic material, which is lost on the back-side. Traces of similar organic matter can be seen at the upper and lower disks adjoining the grip and inside the upper disk (since it now gaps). At the ends of the grip are circular hollow iron guards formed of several elements. The lower guard is waisted towards the blade and domed towards the grip. The top guard is also the pommel. This is of domed form, with a low bump at the end of the tang. The guards have been angularly deformed in the plane of the blade, possibly from the weight of river sediments, by about 15-20 degrees.
ProvenanceHarold L. Peterson (to 1978). Purchased from Peter Finer (England) on December 3, 1999. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
On viewCollections
about 1600–1650
