Sets of Knives

A colourful painting of knights riding out of a city while infantry disempark from ships and gather side to side with rectangular shields — Detail from the *Opera* of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570). Photo by Paul K. care of https://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/3353828122/in/album-72157615243725404/ under a CC BY 2.0 Deed license

In Datini's bottege, you could buy knives individually or by the dozen, or just buy a choltelliera of 3, 4, or 6 knives. Sometimes they are da servire (for serving) or da tavola (for table) and often it is specified that some knives are bigger than others. Sometimes it is specified that the knives have good scabbards, and sometimes that all six knives are in the scabbard.

F 2 choltelliere di 6 choltella una a manicha nere chiavate nocholute con viera di Montefichali della luna giusti e bene fetti (frangioni-chiedere-e-ottenere p. 101, 21 November 1363)
F 4 choltelliere da servire di 2 coltella e 1 coltellino grande apuntato fatte a fornite a detto modo e di detto mastro (frangioni-chiedere-e-ottenere p. 101, 21 November 1363)
4 choltelliere da tavola di 3 choltella l'una a manicha chiavata al modo usato, siano buone e giuste e di maestro lavori bene e faccia milgliore merchato che quello della luna; gli altri merciai n'àno di belle e fanno milgliore merchato asai di noi (frangioni-chiedere-e-ottenere p. 113, 31 October 1365)

Was a choltelliera more like a knife block, or a multiple scabbard?

Today a coltelleria is a "cutlery, cutler's shop" (but coltell-ERIA and coltell-IERA are different words) The Accademia della Crusca did not define coltelliera until 1729, and they just equate it with coltellesca which seems to be another vague word for "something that holds a knife or dagger" (Guaina, o custodia del cultello).

Sources

The earliest usage of coltelliera in TLIO is from 1266 http://tlio.ovi.cnr.it/TLIO/ ("Inventario delle cose rubate a Ugolino di Ruggerotto," in La prosa italiana delle origini: I, Testi toscani di carattere pratico, a cura di Arrigo Castellani, Bologna, Pàtron, 1982, pp. 409-11 [testo pp. 410-11].) Maybe this thread will inspire someone to find art or examples from before 1450 to add to the linkspage?

The unlucky student who died travelling on the road to Paris in 1347 was wearing a big knife, a small knife, a pricker and a little fork all in one scabbard.

... Datini ...

The British Museum has a set of two carving knives and two paring knives in an etui from Dijon or Paris circa 1406-1412 (British Museum, accession number 1855,1201.118 [Internet Archive]).

The V&A has a pair of carving knives in a leather case (accession number 2239:1 to 3-1855).

Chichibio the cook wears a set of 4 knives in a sheath in BNF Arsenal Ms. 5070 fol. 226v from around 1430-1440. It has a shiny chape.

Francis Bloomfield, "Inventory of the Effects formerly belonging to Sir John Fastolfe," Archaeologia 21 (1827) p. 273 "Item, iij Kneyves in a schethe, the haftys of every withe nayles gilt.

It would be nice to find an inventory of a kitchen with "and 6 knives in a choltelliera in one chest. The Original Mediterranean Cuisine by Barbara Santich has some good information on what shows up in medieval Provençal, Italian, and Catalan kitchens.

Suggestions

Thomas Powers suggested the Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi from 1570. Karen Larsdatter's page on cooks pointed me towards the scan above.

Karen Larsdatter suggested http://www.larsdatter.com/cutlery.htm and the following:

Mark Shier suggested the term etui which in modern parlance means leather cases with a lid with loops on the side of the case and the side of the lid: a cord passes through both sets of loops and is closed with a bead or a knot, so when the lid is pulled off it is still attached by the cord. Needlecases and boxes for waxed tablets were often made like this.

Tom B. suggested the keywords trousse de chasse and Waid-Besteck for sets of knives for hunters to unmake game. See Bildindex https://previous.bildindex.de/bilder/MI07841f08a.jpg.

(based on a thread on the Armour Archive, started 19 February 2017)

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