Vorlegebesteck oder Jagdbesteck

This is one of the oldest extant sets of medieval knives. The box is embossed with the arms of the Wartensee family, a family of officials recorded in St Gallen in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. According to the Zurich Roll of Arms from around 1330–45, their escutcheon is divided horizontally and features a silver lion above silver and blue bars (party per fess a lion argent dimidated horizontally with bars argent and azure).

Konrad of Wartensee died before 1372, upon which the male line became extinct. Rudolf of Wartensee was prior of Zurich Cathedral from 1339 to 1354; he was probably the original owner of these knives. Wartensee tried to negotiate a peace between Albert II, Duke of Austria, and the Swiss Confederacy. Zurich joined the latter in 1371 but tried to stay on friendly terms with the Habsburg duke by presenting him with gifts at Brugg in Aargau. This elegant set of knives may have been one of these diplomatic presents. Note the polychrome decoration of the handles of the two knives, which are encased in strips of horn and bone embellished with a pattern comprising quatrefoil, checkerboard, and floral motifs. In various places silver pins are arranged to form dots or small crosses. The blades of both knives are stamped with a master’s mark, a twelve-petalled rosette.

The precious box housing the knives is made of black pressed and cut leather; the lid is missing. Its front is decorated with a dragon and a field of trefoil palmettes above the afore-mentioned owner’s arms, framed by late Romanesque garlands. The back of the box features a simple interlaced pattern. The two now empty recesses between those for the two big blades probably once held a pricker or a small knife.