Hermann,
Lovely dagger and accoutrements, quite outstanding.
I never knew there were two schools of thought on the dolphins/sea-monsters in the etch patterns? It's true the two figures shown here seem to be dolphins at first glance, but they both have impressive sets of teeth so I'm not sure if they were meant to be dolphins or something else? Since they took full advantage of "artistic license" back then, perhaps they really were meant to be dolphins? Even towards the end of the 19th century sea creatures were still portrayed very liberally. Fish, whales and squid looked like the stuff of nightmares and open to wide personal interpretation. As with all the other artistic designs used in the various etch templates, I think that they were meant simply to portray traditional themes associated with sailing and other maritime elements.
Thanks for your excellent post.
Best!
Willi
Willi,
Thanks for your thoughts.
The ornamental embellishments on German Naval daggers are amazing and always with a deeper meaning.
For example: The reed-bundle pommel from around 1800, which re-appeared in 1848 and 1919, often misunderstood as 'flaming ball' pommel, how funny.
The reed-bundle was the ancestor of the buoy...
Look at 1919 daggers. On the reverse crossguards one can see a milkwort. This flower can be found on sacral buildings like the Cologne Dome as the finial stone. It stands for resurrection in Gothic architecture.
And of course this was understood as for the resurrection of Naval power in 1919, so shortly after Scapa Flow...
There is always a meaning.
Unfortunately. Neither Vic nor I were able to explain the lightning bolt pattern on German naval scabbards. Maybe one of the fellow collectors will have an idea.
Thank you so much.
Best;
Hermann
