Today we take a look at a small rondel dagger in the collection of the Oakeshott Institute and compare it to a similar piece at the Metropolitan Museum that Nathan examined on his recent research trip to the East Coast. Check out this previous post about the 16th century feders in the Met and Higgins collection.
Dr. Nathan Clough examining the dagger in the Met.
These two daggers are very similar, possibly even made in the same shop - though when exactly that might have been is a bit of a mystery. Here is a link to a 3D model of the Oakeshott Institute dagger.
There is also a similar dagger that recently sold at auction as a 19th century dagger in the 14th century style, which can be seen below. This example is quite similar to the Oakeshott example, but with an amethyst cabochon in the hilt.
As always, our swords and weapons are made by hand, by us at our shop in Minneapolis, MN. Sword blades from 6150 steel, hardened to 50-52 Rockwell, spears and axes from 4140 steel, differentially hardened. They are all hand-crafted to look, feel, and function just like the original pieces on which they are based. Check out our full catalogue here.
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.