POST MEDIEVAL KNIFE

Copper alloy ecclesiastical knife handle. The handle is in the form of Jonah rising from the mouth of the fish, with hands together in prayer. The handle is semi-circular in cross-section and presumably there would have been a similar backing plate to cover the reverse of the handle. The handle is broken at the tang end. The main shank of the handle is taken up by the fish, which has a long slender tapering body with a triangular shaped snout. The perimeter of the snout is emphasised by a moulded ridge. The eyes are shown by a pair of two concentric circles and the gills are shown by a series of diagonal lines set within a roughly oval border. There is a fin or sail-like crest on the forehead of the fish. The decoration and shape of the fish depicts it as a mythological sea-serpent rather than any real-life creature.The terminal of the handle is in the form of Jonah, who is depicted issuing from the serpent’s mouth as far as his chest. He is show in prayer with his arms pointing inwards and his hands aligned together. His head is oval and he appears to have a receding hairline with long hair flowing down the sides of his head. This hair is shown very straight and very close to the