Large hunting sword with imperial emblem. - Lot 82

Lot n° 82
Go to lot
Estimation :
40000 - 60000 EUR
Large hunting sword with imperial emblem. - Lot 82
Large hunting sword with imperial emblem. Germany, blade signed Bartholomäus (known as Meves) Berns in Solingen, circa 1610-1620. L. 100 cm - L. 17 cm (length of guardrails: 21 and 19 cm) Large hunting sword with imperial emblems Germany, blade signed Bartholomäus (called Meves) Berns from Solingen, circa 1610-1620 L. 39 3/8 in- W. 6 3/4 in (length of knife and spike : 8 1/4 in and 7 1/2 in). 799 CH Provenance : - Albert von Rothschild Collection (1844-1911), inv. n°. AR3381bc - Christie's sale, London, July 8, 1999, lot 66. Large hunting sword with imperial emblem, mounted in blackened iron inlaid with silver. Guard with inverted quillon, open limb and flat rings surrounding the ricasso. Spindle with silver filigree. The hilt is decorated with foliage, fruit and flowers. The bust of a female figure appears at the end of the branch, and a dolphin at the end of the quillon. The crosspiece features a cherub's head on one side and a heraldic eagle on the other. The oval pommel is also adorned with foliage, in the middle of which a large double-headed crowned imperial eagle is displayed on one side, and the same eagle, smaller and topped by a cross, on the other, with two rampant heraldic lions facing each other a little lower down. Large ricasso blade with two gutters in the first third, inscribed on both sides with ANNO 1548 and framed by two wolves running from Passau. Marked with a walking stag, mark of Bartholomäus (known as Meves) Berns, blade smith in Solingen in the early 17th century. Original green velvet-covered scabbard, with a two-ring iron cap featuring the same silver-inlaid vegetal decoration surrounding an allegory of Strength. The chape covers a batardeaux sheath, here a knife and a punch, in iron with twisted handles inlaid with silver dots. These are contemporary with the sword, but not original to the set (the sheath was designed for two knives). Bouterolle in blackened iron with vegetal and floral decoration inlaid with silver. This sword was possibly made for Emperor Matthias I of the Holy Roman Empire (1557-1619), after his accession to the imperial crown in 1612. Although it's difficult to say whether they have double tails or not, the two heraldic lions on the pommel could refer to the arms of Bohemia, and the eagle on the crosspiece to the arms of the Duchy of Moravia (Matthias became King of Bohemia, including Moravia, in 1611). The date on the blade and the wolf, emblem of the Passau blacksmiths, appear to be retrospective marks, perhaps commemorating an important event for its owner, or copying a historical blade owned by him. The inventory number A2250 painted in red on the side of the ricasso, the scabbard and the two cofferdams, was inscribed by the Kunsthistorisches museum after the Rothschild collections in Vienna were confiscated by the Nazis in 1938 and entrusted to this museum. The collections were returned to the family in 1998 and auctioned off in 1999. Velvet of the scabbard damaged and partially restored, watermark of the fuse slightly damaged, movable bouterolle. Translation at the end of the catalog
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue