Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Metalware, Room 116, The Belinda Gentle Gallery

Paperknife

ca. 1600 - ca. 1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of a pair of ivory paper knives (with Mus. No. 1641-1856). The blades are of steel, partly gilty and are engraved with walking figures. The figures carved in the ivory handles of these early 17th-century paper knives represent Cupid (the God of Love) supported by a faun, a male deity with the horns and legs of a goat.
Paper knives often had handles of ivory, bone or wood. They were used to cut paper along a fold, in particular to open the uncut pages of books.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Etched and gilt steel with carved ivory
Brief description
Scrivener's knife (one of a pair), ivory with steel blades, partly gilt, faun with putto carrying a coat of arms, Italy, ca. 1600-1650
Physical description
The handles of this pair of scrivener's knives are each elaborately carved in high relief with a nude putto carrying an unidentified coat of arms, surmounted by a cardinal's hat, supported by a faun, with foliate forms around a corinthian capital at the base. The blades are engraved with walking figures.
Dimensions
  • Whole length: 23cm
  • Ivory alone length: 13.2cm
Object history
Bought in 1856 (vendor unrecorded).
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is one of a pair of ivory paper knives (with Mus. No. 1641-1856). The blades are of steel, partly gilty and are engraved with walking figures. The figures carved in the ivory handles of these early 17th-century paper knives represent Cupid (the God of Love) supported by a faun, a male deity with the horns and legs of a goat.
Paper knives often had handles of ivory, bone or wood. They were used to cut paper along a fold, in particular to open the uncut pages of books.
Associated object
1641-1856 (Object)
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1856, In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I., London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 42
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 p. 433
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, p. 433, cat. no. 464
Collection
Accession number
1640-1856

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Record createdMarch 1, 2005
Record URL
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