Ⓦ A DETACHED POMMEL FROM A RAPIER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY

formed in the round as an African head, with tied hair and large earings (areas of pitting)

6.0 cm; 2 3/8 in high

Part proceeds to benefit The Wallace Collection

A sword with a similar pommel is preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (A1029). A detached example is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. For a discussion of this group see Blackmore 1998, pp. 67-76.