2-721-259 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Dagger and sheath, c1360-1400, (1881). Etching of a carved ivory dagger with its sheath, made in northern Italy, probably Venice, in the late 14th century. At the top of the handle is a crouching lion, and below that a winged dragon. The top panel of the sheath depicts a man kneeling before a seated female figure, with a bird and a lion in the bottom section. Elaborate and fragile handles such as this were impractical for use as a dagger, but such items were hung at the belt, and were an important part of male display. From "The South Kensington Museum", a book of engraved illustrations, with descriptions, of the works of art in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (formerly known as the South Kensington Museum). [Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London, 1881]