A Silver Hilted Hunting Hanger made by William Knight of London circa 1685 to 1697

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Price: £1,500

Ref: 52120343

Item Description

A scarce late 17th century Silver Hilted Hunting Hanger mounted with a roe buck antler grip and slender curved single edged blade. The cross hilt is formed with an oval quillon block from which two horizontal quillons emerge with vertically counter curved terminals shaped as busts of dogs. A ferrule is mounted at the base of the grip  with a bossed circular ridge towards the base beneath which a further ring of dots is present. The pommel cap rim is  decorated in the same manner on the sides. On top the pommel cap features  two cherub heads between busts of Roman emperors against a finely punched background surrounding an integral raised pommel button in the middle.

The tapering blade is single edged until it becomes double edged 5 inches from the tip. It has a short ricasso and a queens’ head armourers stamp on both sides a quarter of the way along from the hilt. This is probably the mark of a Solingen smith. The forte on both sides has a panel of foliage with remnants of gilt inlay.

The ferrule at the base of the grip and the pommel cap have the maker’s stamp “WK” conjoined within a shield. This is the mark of the London based silversmith and silver hilt maker William Knight. He was born in circa 1664 and is recorded as active in his trade from 1685 to circa 1713. He was an apprentice of Hugh Humphries with the Weavers’ Company of London. Knight was dead by 1720.

“WK” are the initials of Knight’s first and surnames. In 1697 the marks required of London silversmiths changed to the Britannia Standard which required the two letters of a maker’s stamp to be of the smith’s surname which in Knight’s case was “KN” which is not the case here. Hence we can date the hilt to before 1697. Using the initials of both names reemerged in 1720 with the arrival of the Sterling Standard which for a time was in operation alongside the Britannia Standard but Knight was no longer active by then.

The pommel cap shows some compression damage around the rim. The blade shows wear and light rust patination along both sides and a chip to the cutting edge towards the tip. The blade is 17.5 inches long (44.5 cm) and overall the hanger is 21.75 inches (just over 55 cm) long.