~ A LUXURIOUS CEREMONIAL DAGGER

The handle, carved from walrus ivory, is decorated with two men clutching the olive-shaped pommel, vine leaves, interlacing patterns and female busts. The tang is carved with a rudentate motif imitating a frieze, and features chiselled iron studs and a ferrule. Chiselled iron guard in a ‘body knot’ style, decorated with a floral rosette, from which emerge two flat, inverted quillons featuring scrollwork motifs. Straight, double-edged blade with a flat back, chiselled along one-third of its length with a floral motif.
Probably a 17th-century German piece.
Overall length: 51 cm.
Gross weight: 229 g. 

Expert: Alban Degrave

Odobenus rosmarus (III/B).