A GERMAN STATE GLAIVE (KUSE) OF THE BODYGUARD OF THE EMPEROR FERDINAND II OF AUSTRIA (1578-1637, reg. 1619-1637)

DATED 1620

Details

A GERMAN STATE GLAIVE (KUSE) OF THE BODYGUARD OF THE EMPEROR FERDINAND II OF AUSTRIA (1578-1637, reg. 1619-1637)
Dated 1620
Of similar form, richly etched on both sides of the blade with scrolling flowers and foliage on a blackened dotted ground with traces of gilding enclosing the crowned letter 'F' above, on the left side, the crowned imperial double-headed eagle charged with the quartered arms of Hungary and Bohemia with Austria and Burgundy in pretence, surmounted by a crown and encircled by the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, all above the date, and on the right side the Emperor's insignia, the head of the Virgin Mary in glory, wearing an imperial crown above the letter 'M' and three imperial crowns, all within the motto 'Legitime Certantibus', etched tapering rectangular socket, four straps (each extended), and octagonal wooden staff with tassel
27 in. (68.6 cm.) head

Provenance

Rothschild inv. no. AR104.

Lot Essay

Ferdinand II's motto is derived from II Timothy II.5: 'And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully'. The three crowns represent Ferdinand's three previous offices as King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, and King of the Romans.
Cf. a similar glaive in the von Kienbusch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, described and illustrated in The Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Collection of Armor and Arms, Princeton, New Jersey, 1963, no. 566. An undated example is in the Leibrstkammer, Vienna (inv. no. A 1566).

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