[Leo Todeschini]

Hi All,

Here is a curious commission I had and I hope you like it.

The attached picture is all I had so I have no provenance at all on it. However it is clearly late 15th in origin and I would guess German or Flemish.

The grip is antler and the balls are a black wood ( I think) and the guard and pommel cap are in blacked iron.

The grip is really driven by the ability to get antler that works and so the first thing was to turn the grip and the dimensions really follow from this, so there are some slight differences, but the feel of the piece is true.

The blade is quite a spike and is 8mm thick x 20mm wide and 270mm long with a flat grind and a sharpened false edge that run to about 50mm from the guard.

Th balls are ebony and the grip is red deer antler. The guard and pommel are steel and linseed oil blacked.

The sheath is veg tan leather with a bronze chape.

I hope you like it.

Regards


Tod

[Preben B]

Beautiful piece as usual, Tod.
A curious piece indeed, I quite like the contrast of the black and white.

[Gregg Sobocinski]

I can see that being a popular piece in any era. The contrast and quality of the components looks fantastic!

[Steve Fabert]

An excellent piece of workmanship. Wish I had one like it. It's hard for me to tell from the photos how sharp the cutting edge is. Plainly the primary function of this sort of thing was to puncture, but would it also slice anything tougher than a cheese?

[Leo Todeschini]

Thanks Steve,

Sharp enough to cut, but yes it is a thick and narrow blade so a razor it is not. Actually cheese would be a problem because the blade is so thick relative to its height, so carrots also would fracture - basically I guess the kitchen is not the place for it!

Tod

[Mark Moore]

Yep....That's a sticker, not a slicer. A round of sharp cheddar....big mess. A man in armor, on his back and defenseless...not a chance. .....McM