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Lot 1621 - S20 An important private collection of antique cutlery - Thursday, 21. March 2024, 10.00 AM

KNIFE WITH COAT OF ARMS OF THE VENITIAN FAMILY BEMBO

Italy, probably Venice, ca. 1500.
Flat, edged silver handle tapering slightly towards the blade with niello decoration, the upper and lower sides of the handle in the form of trophies, foliage and a coat of arms shield of the family Bembo. The narrow sides engraved with a braided band. The gilt handle cap is rounded and decorated with leaves in relief. Blade with tip on the non-cutting edge, the base engraved with tendrils and gilt. Inlaid copper smith's mark in the shape of a Y. Multiple profiled blade bolsters, engraved in relief with a leaf wreath and gilt.
L 24.3 cm.


Light corrosion, blade partially worn. Handle cap slightly incomplete, chipping at the blade-side handle end. Signs of use.

The shield in the typical Venetian form with the coat of arms of the Bembo family, which for generations provided important ambassadors, senators, procurators and, with Giovanni Bembo, the 92nd Doge, who ruled from 1 December 1615 to 16 March 1618.

Cf. for knife handles in the niello technique, also from Italy and dating from around 1500: Klaus Marquardt. Europäisches Essbesteck aus acht Jahrhunderten. Stuttgart, 1997. p. 58, fig. 157. Marquardt uses the same gilt knob ends and the same motifs, such as musical instruments, heraldic cartouches, weapons and shields. According to Marquardt, the models for the design can probably be traced back to Giovanni Antonio da Brescia. For another cutlery set related in decoration, but different in the design of the handles, see the Dorotheum auction catalog, Besteck-Sammlung Franz Emmerich Graf Lamberg. Vienna, 1912. p. 7, figs. 79/80/82.

Light corrosion, blade partially worn. Handle cap slightly incomplete, chipping at the blade-side handle end. Signs of use.Cf. for knife handles in the niello technique, also from Italy and dating from around 1500: Klaus Marquardt. Europäisches Essbesteck aus acht Jahrhunderten. Stuttgart, 1997. p. 58, fig. 157. Marquardt uses the same gilt knob ends and the same motifs, such as musical instruments, heraldic cartouches, weapons and shields. According to Marquardt, the models for the design can probably be traced back to Giovanni Antonio da Brescia. For another cutlery set related in decoration, but different in the design of the handles, see the Dorotheum auction catalog, Besteck-Sammlung Franz Emmerich Graf Lamberg. Vienna, 1912. p. 7, figs. 79/80/82.


CHF 3 000 / 5 000 | (€ 3 090 / 5 150)

Sold for CHF 9 375 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.