help with ID medieval guillon dagger.

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Hi Jasper,

This of course would be the common dating for egdged weapons with characteristic flat and down-curved Gothic quillons.
I am curious though to see a sample of such an early date with late-style quillons like yours - please do keep in mind to always watch out for the latest possible stylistic feature on any item when dating it!
One of the most common mistakes is to date an item on the grounds of its earliest features ...

Best,
Michael

Hi michael,

thank you, I would greatly appreciate it if you can substantiate "late style guillons" with some evidence.

where did this fact-knowledge come from, gut feeling, or do you have a hard reference from the literature or even better an example of a weapon?

there are 12 different quillon/cross types possible at a gothic dagger, not only " flat and downcurved!"

Moreover, the cross/quillon of the dagger under discussion is described precisely by Oakeshott as his cross style 2, see picture.SITAOC p 114.
there are numerous examples of swords with this cross style type 2 published in ROMS dating from the 11th 12th 13th 14th and 15th century.
however examples of cross style 2 from the 16 th century are not known to me, but then again maybe you have other information?


dating a rare dagger with no explicit style attributes is particularly difficult. example, see the reactions on another forum. vikingsword staff ,sorry for the link
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=26388

further I got an interesting picture with a late 14, early 15 century dagger with some similarities in blade geometry and quillon form.

the pommel popular after 1400 in combination with the cross-type 2 and more important a blade with short ricasso! make me date the dagger in the 1350-1450 time span.

best,
Jasper