Steel saber mounted on silver and gilt metal, decorated with - Lot 463

Lot n° 463
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Estimation :
20000 - 30000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 171 438EUR
Steel saber mounted on silver and gilt metal, decorated with - Lot 463
Steel saber mounted on silver and gilt metal, decorated with coral European blade with Transylvanian handle and scabbard, late 16th or early 17th century L. 96.5 cm - Gross weight: 1802 g Silver and gilt metal mounted steel sabre decorated with coral European blade with Transylvanian hilt and scabbard, late 16th or early 17th century L. 38 in - Weight: 63,6 oz 929 CH A fine single-edged curved blade, marked with an eyelash, with three gutters, the central one decorated with open work and a swollen yelmen engraved with scrolling floral motifs. At the base, an engraved panel surmounted by a fleur-de-lis, with traces of gold, contains a helmet, a portrait of a bearded man wearing a crown and an engraved inscription that reads: STEPHANVS / D: G REX.POL / D. PRVS... (Stephanus Dei Gratia Rex Poloniae Dux Prussiae) The reverse features a similar engraved panel with a royal crown, two crescent moons and stars, and "FRANGIA" in a cartouche. The handle is covered with black leather and three gilded metal buttons. The body of the scabbard is covered with silver braided wire mesh with silver suspension rings, the top one with a brass collector's plate bearing the number 44. Stephan Báthory (Hungarian: István Báthory) was born in 1533 in what is now Romania. The son of a Transylvanian aristocrat, he became Prince of Transylvania on May 25, 1571, with the support of Sultan Selim II and against the resistance of Emperor Maximilian II. In 1576, he was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and reigned until his death in 1586. A similar blade is kept at the Rüstkammer, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, inv.no.Y104 (see Schuckelt, The Turkish Chamber Chamber, 2010, p.34-35), where the author notes that Stephan Báthory liked to give weapons bearing his portrait as a token of favor, and that the blades made after his death generally bear dates that do not correspond to the biographical data of Stephan Báthory. Stephan Báthory's biographical data. The scabbard and mounts of this sword are very similar to a sword and saber preserved at the Rüstkammer, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, inv.no's Y351 and Y352 (ibid, p.60-61), said to be the work of master craftsman Nikolaus Gross, active in Vienna but Vienna but probably originally from Transylvania. Finally, this guard has the same shape as the one from the estate of the Transylvanian prince János Kemény (1607-1662), now in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest (armory), Inv. no.55.3344. (See Ferenc Temesváry: Waffenschätze Prunkwaffen. Budapest 1982, pp. 32f. and 59).
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