The present drawing is a project for the decoration of the scabbard of a Swiss 'Holbein' dagger. It depicts the Dance of Death a popular motif for the decoration of such scabbards. Comparable engravings and drawings exist of similar projects; such as the study at Frankfurt, H. Schneider, Der Schweizerdolch, 1977, Zurich, pp. 63, 66-7, fig. 104. The spatial disposition of the figures in the present drawing indicates that it was probably an early stage in the design of the scabbard, as on the scabbard itself the figures would be placed much closer together. There is also no space or indication of the central and end bands which appear in all other scabbard designs.

Versions of this drawing are at Basel, Dessau and Dresden