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Hunting Knife and Sharpener in Sheath (Made for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy), 1450–1500
Burgundian
Steel, wood, silver-gilt, enamels, leather; Knife: 15 5/16 in. (38.4 cm), Sharpener: 9 5/16 in. (23.7 cm), Sheath: 12 11/16 in. (32.3 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1950 (50.119a-c)

This knife and sharpener in an embossed leather case were made for Charles the Bold, who succeeded his father, Philip the Good, as duke of Burgundy upon Philip's death in 1467. Charles's personal motto, Je l'ai emprins, which also appears on his tomb in Bruges, is engraved into a scroll on one side of the gilded metal pommel of the hilt. On the opposite side appear the arms of Burgundy in champlevé enamel. Other insignias of the dukes of Burgundy appear on the knife handle and leather case, including aultre, the beginning of the motto adopted by Philip the Good in dedication to his third wife, Isabella of Portugal. Charles, who married Isabel of Bourbon, continued to use the same motto. The form of the gilded pommel of the sharpener is a briquet engraved with a stone and flames, the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece, over which the duke was sovereign. The shape of the blade indicates that the knife, like numbers of others preserved from Renaissance courts, was used for hunting. The red cord and tassels are not original.


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  • Hunting Knife and Sharpener in Sheath (Made for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy), 1450–1500
    Burgundian
    Steel, wood, silver-gilt, enamels, leather; Knife: 15 5/16 in. (38.4 cm), Sharpener: 9 5/16 in. (23.7 cm), Sheath: 12 11/16 in. (32.3 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1950 (50.119a-c)