Interesting pieces in Hessink Auction... -- myArmoury.com

Steve Maly

I received this link from Armourauctions.com of an upcoming auction at Hessink's. I haven't made my way through the entire catalog yet, but you'll need a drool guard on the keyboard! If I only had a couple of million to spend, I could open my own museum! You can access the online catalog here: http://www.hessink.com/

There are some very interesting museum-quality pieces here--and they even have a matching rapier and dagger sold as a set!

Here is a particularly interesting mix of weaponry--a combination of a warhammer, estoc, and a fork upon which to rest the gun! Auction text:
A Rare German Musketeer's Fork with Estoc, circa 1580.
Carrying device for the musketeer's gun. Wooden shaft with coarsely stamped decoration and iron tip. The estoc with slender, double-edged blade and double-edged point. Fullers on both sides with stamped inscription 'INTOLEDO'. Straight iron quillons and spring lock. Hammershaped quillon. On top a forkshaped iron grip with spiralshaped ends. Length 148.5 cm.[/i]

Gordon Frye · Posted: Sun 24 Dec, 2006 10:03 am Post subject:

That's pretty slick, thanks for posting that!

Cheers,

Gordon

Gordon Clark · Posted: Sun 24 Dec, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

Yes - neat site.
This one is cool - could it be a transitional dagger between a rondel dagger and a Katzbalger? I like the idea of pieces that bridge gaps...

Patrick Kelly · Posted: Sun 24 Dec, 2006 3:57 pm Post subject:

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

I don't think there was any transition from rondel dagger to a katzbalger, specifically, but you aren't the only one to note the influences. Harold Peterson notes in Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World that there are many that consider a form of landsknecht dagger to be a product of evolution from the rondel dagger. Such weapons, as described by Peterson, have pommels of a flattened cap, a slightly convex cap, or even a squashed spherical shape. It's difficult to tell by the photo above exactly what shape the pommel is, but it does appear to be one of those.

The guard is also a mystery. As Patrick notes, it may be only half there. It might be one of two rings or even half of an S-shaped guard. It might also have a shell-shaped dish on the other side for all we know, as was very common on landsknecht daggers.

Edit: The additional photos on the piece show it to have a convex "squashed spherical" pommel. While it's still hard to see the other guard, the one shown is a ring not half of an S-shaped guard. Very nice. German 1520.