16th Century Nobleman’s Cinquedea
RESERVED!
One of the new pieces in the collection, the cinquedea being the rarest daggers due to their short production span of 100 years from around 1450 to 1550.
This dagger rarer than other due to its beautiful workmanship indicating it was made for a nobleman and the references to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his son Philip II of Spain.
The association to this noble royal family cannot be ignored, as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor almost unified the major part of Europe, ” As Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. As he was head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century, his dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and the Kingdom of Spain with its southern Italian possessions of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Furthermore, he oversaw both the continuation of the long-lasting Spanish colonization of the Americas and the short-lived German colonization of the Americas. The personal union of the European and American territories of Charles V was the first collection of realms labelled “the empire on which the sun never sets”.
Charles also spent extensive time in Norther Italy which is the birth place of this dagger. The fact the dagger is engraved with both a image of the Charles V and the coat of arms of his Son Philip II of Spain could point towards it belonging to the Philip II or a very close and high ranking official.
The hilt is a typical cinquedea style with iron curved quillons, however it has an all iron hilt making this type extremely scarce with only a few examples know. Overall the dagger is richly decorated with floral motifs and extensive engraving ranging from battle scenes and other dark scenes of combat. the silver inserts in the pommel we believe may have been added later on in its long life around the 18th to 19th century.
The blade is a wide fighting blade with the iconic multiple deep fullers on either side, the blade is heavily engraved with battle and combat scenes. The fact the daggers also shows some signs of impact on the blade edge and also the tip adds more mystic to this piece.
Needless to say this dagger would have cost considerable money to have made and many artisans would have worked on it to make the final product. The fact this dagger may have seen some combat is not surprising as the rule of Charles V was plagues by many uprising, offensives and wars.
A truly special work of art worth of any museum.
References on the Royal family:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor#Holy_Roman_Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain
Dimensions:
Overall length: 59.2 cm
Blade: 44 cm
Enquire NowRelated products
