Ferrare Cinquedea Dagger, Blade decorated by Ercole dei Fedeli, c. 1500. Collection Philippe Missillier, Study Giquello, Drouot - rooms 5-6, March 6 & 7, 2025.

PHILIPPE MISSILLIER COLLECTION
EARLY PERIOD – BOOKS – 17TH CENTURY FIREARMS
HUNTING ART – PHALERISTICS
18TH AND 19TH CENTURY WEAPONS – RUSSIAN ART
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
AFRICA AND OCEANIA – FAR EAST
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 2:00 pm
ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
Drouot - rooms 5-6

EXHIBITION
Tuesday, March 4 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Wednesday, March 5 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Thursday, March 6 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Phone during the exhibition +33(0)1 48 00 20 05

GIQUELLO
Alexandre Giquello
Violette Stcherbatcheff
5, rue La Boétie - 75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 42 78 01 - info@giquello.net
Subject to approval
No. 2002 389

CONTACT
Claire Richon
+33(0)1 47 70 48 00
c.richon@giquello.net

SPECIALIST
Marina Viallon Specialist
+33 (0)6 72 42 57 24
marina.viallon@yahoo.fr

Lot No. 33 (from the sale)
17th Century Ferrare Cinquedea Dagger, Blade decorated by Ercole dei Fedeli, circa 1500.

L. 32 cm
768 CH
€35,000/€55,000
Cinquedea dagger, with a triangular blade with a strong central ridge, originally blued or browned with a blacksmith's stamp on each side (pomegranate?). On each side, the base of the blade is decorated with a design where the left part is acid-etched and fully gilded, and the right part is treated with a technique of scraping a gold background to reveal the reserve motifs. On one side, the engraved design shows Orpheus playing the viol, with a nude Eurydice clinging to his arm as they try to ascend from the Underworld, and the gilded decoration on the left depicts a heart pierced by an arrow surrounded by foliage and large oriental scrolls. On the other side of the blade, the engraved design shows a woman near a man impaled on his sword (Tecmessa discovering Ajax's body?), while the gold motif on the left has almost entirely disappeared. Downward curved iron quillons. Gilded bronze handle and pommel encased by two elephant ivory plates, pierced with four holes filled with openwork brass rosettes or gold inlays that once held precious stone cabochons (missing). On the sides of the gilded bronze tang, visible between the two ivory plates, one can read in relief the Latin inscriptions AUDACES FORTUNA IV(at) (fortune favors the bold) and AUXILIUM A SUP(era) (aid from above).
The blade decoration corresponds to the style of the artist Ercole dei Fedeli, a goldsmith and engraver active at the court of Ferrara around 1500, specializing in ornamenting sword and dagger blades. His work can be found, for example, on a sword kept at the Cluny Museum (CL 11811) and on a large cinquedea at the Sibbert Museum in Florence (inv. 3593). Another cinquedea from the same workshop, featuring the same Latin quotes and a decoration also attributable to Fedeli, was recently sold in London (Olympia Auctions, December 4, 2024, no. 114). Ivory cracked on both sides, gold cabochon holder missing from the lower hole of the handle. Missing gemstones. Wear on the gilding and part of the blade decoration.
CIC certificate dated 01/29/2025.