Knife and Fork
1623 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This knife blade is engraved with scenes of the Virgin and Child and the Crucifixion. The design was cut into the blade with a steel cutting tool which removed thin slivers of metal. Contemporary still-life paintings show similar knives.
Cutlers specialised in making blades. They 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.
Cutlers specialised in making blades. They 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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Steel, with engraved bone handles and mother-of-pearl |
| Brief description | Knife and fork with handles of engraved bone chequered with mother-of-pearl, France or Germany, dated 1623. |
| Physical description | Knife and fork with handles of engraved bone chequered with mother-of-pearl. |
| Summary | This knife blade is engraved with scenes of the Virgin and Child and the Crucifixion. The design was cut into the blade with a steel cutting tool which removed thin slivers of metal. Contemporary still-life paintings show similar knives. Cutlers specialised in making blades. They 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. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 2315&A-1855 |
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| Record created | January 21, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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