Joseph Cooke & Son Silver-Mounted Sgian Dubh, Birmingham, Carved Horn

Northern Europe, England, Birmingham, Joseph Cooke & Son, Scottish Highland dress style. This is a sgian dubh, the small knife worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose, and it comes in its fitted sheath. The silver mounts are struck with the marks of Joseph Cooke & Son of Birmingham and test at 92.3% silver. The black horn grip is carved in a deep basketweave lattice and flares below the pommel into a collar of stylized leaves. Engraved bands of Celtic interlace circle the ferrule and the pommel cap. The cap holds a faceted amber-toned glass made to stand in for the traditional cairngorm quartz. It is a lead-free alkali-lime silicate with added barium. The steel blade has a fuller and a notched spine. The silver throat and chape of the pebble-grained black leather sheath are engraved with thistles and acanthus scrolls. The back of the throat carries the monogram "TJ". The name sgian dubh is Scottish Gaelic and is usually translated as "black knife." The word "black" can be read two ways. One reading points to the dark wood or horn of the hilt. The other takes the older sense of "hidden," because the knife was once carried out of sight. Over time it came into plain view in the top of the right stocking. It became a fixed part of formal Highland dress, worn with the kilt, sporran, and dirk. The decoration uses the standard motifs of Highland dress. The thistle is Scotland's national emblem. The Celtic interlace looks back to early medieval Insular ornament. A gem-set pommel traditionally held a cairngorm, the smoky or golden quartz named after the Cairngorm mountains. Faceted glass in a similar honeyed color was a common cheaper substitute. The stone on this knife is a lead-free glass with added barium, a recipe that raises brilliance without using lead. That choice reflects the glass technology of the early twentieth century as much as Highland custom. A great deal of Highland dress silver was made far from the Highlands. Birmingham's jewelry and silver trades supplied dirk, sgian dubh, and brooch mounts to outfitters across Britain. Pieces assayed there carry the Birmingham Assay Office anchor. Birmingham's date letters repeat in cycles, so one letter can stand for two years a generation apart. The shape of the letter and of the shield around it decides which year is meant. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 206070

Estimate:$150

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