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1985

  • We acquired this object.

2002

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2025

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Folding Knife with Engraved Floral Decoration and Lion Cartouche Folding Knife

This is a Folding knife. It is dated ca. 1700 and we acquired it in 1985. Its medium is silver, steel. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

text from the historical overview in "Feeding Desire":

Although it was the norm for individuals to travel with cutlery and other flatware until the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, this custom did not die out when hosts started to provide flatware for their guiests. Traveling sets continued to be used when visiting inns, as exemplified by Celia Fienne's will cited above, and for picnics, hunts, and other outdoor occasions, well into the twentieth century. The sets often were hinged to fold (figs. 50, 51), and may have had fittings on the spoon to hold the tines (fig. 52) rather than having small or removeable handles as earlier pieces did.

This object was donated by Eleanor L. Metzenberg. It is credited The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg.

Its dimensions are

L x W x D (overall): 16.6 × 2.1 × 0.7 cm (6 9/16 × 13/16 × 1/4 in.) L x W x D (folded): 8.6 × 3.1 × 0.7 cm (3 3/8 × 1 1/4 × 1/4 in.)

It has the following markings

Unmarked

Cite this object as

Folding Knife with Engraved Floral Decoration and Lion Cartouche Folding Knife; Germany; silver, steel; L x W x D (overall): 16.6 × 2.1 × 0.7 cm (6 9/16 × 13/16 × 1/4 in.) L x W x D (folded): 8.6 × 3.1 × 0.7 cm (3 3/8 × 1 1/4 × 1/4 in.); The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg; 1985-103-246

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005.

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18804005/ |title=Folding Knife with Engraved Floral Decoration and Lion Cartouche Folding Knife |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=7 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>