Object data
iron, gilt brass, ivory and felt
sword: length 91.2 cm
blade: length 77.7 cm × width 2 cm
hilt: length 16.5 cm
Peter Knecht (attributed to)
Officer's Sword
Solingen, 1820 - 1830
Inscriptions
- inscription, on the blade above the ricasso, engraved: Solingen // P.G. [Knecht] / Fils
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-737
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
So-called ‘staff-épée’ without scabbard, the blade point is broken off.
Straight blade of flattened diamond section, blue and gilt for one third of its length from the hilt downwards. The hilt has a reeded ivory grip with an oval crowned monogram of King William I, the pommel is shaped as half a leaping lion, the curved knuckle guard is decorated with foliage and scrolls, and the cross guard with single obverse shell is adorned with a wreathed anchor.
The Dutch ‘état-major épée’ or ‘stafdegen’ was worn by all officers in the Dutch Army and Navy in the period between 1820 and 1830, the emblem of their corps depicted on the shell (for naval officers this was an anchor). The design was derived from that of the French ‘épée clavier’ of the First Empire.
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 737; J.P. Puype, Blanke wapens. Nederlandse slag- en steekwapens sinds 1600 … , Lochem/Popperinge 1981, pp. 14-15, figs. 97, 231
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'attributed to Peter Knecht, Officer's Sword, Solingen, 1820 - 1830', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244551
(accessed 15 November 2024 02:06:59).