I think it's a sword.You can see it between the two stool legs on the left.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Leonard Williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lute List" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 5:27 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute stand??? >> The broken lute at his feet is interesting for its >> details of interior >> construction. I have a feeling that either the >> artist had never >> actually seen the interior construction, or 15th >> century lutes were >> built much differently than 16th-century ones. > > I believe this is a lute case. There are other > later pictures of > cases like this (sorry, I don't have specifics), with > the lid hinged about > where the bridge would be on a lute. > > Leonard Williams > > On 9/20/06 12:42 PM, "Stephen Fryer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> Craig Allen wrote: >> >>> A friend sent me a link to this enggraving by >>> Meckenem the Younger. >>> >>> http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=24901 >>> >>> Now I have seen this engraving before but she >>> mentioned a "lute >>> stand" and upon looking more closely I see she was >>> referring to >>> something that is sticking up under the lute between >>> the player's >>> legs. Now in looking further this appears to extend >>> below the stool >>> he's sitting on and I'm not convinced it's a lute >>> stand but instead a >>> dagger on a belt. Why the player would have this in >>> the position it's >>> in is beyond me as it seems that it would be most >>> uncomfortable and >>> the hilt would tend to scratch the lute. Also he >>> appears to be >>> leaning on the table to support the lute and thus an >>> additional stand >>> might not be necessary. So I ask you all, what do >>> you think it is? >> >> It is indeed a dagger. They were very commonly worn >> on the front of the >> belt, often in association with a pouch (but not in >> this case). They >> were referred to as "bollock knives" or "bollock >> daggers," and if you >> think they might be considered rather "suggestive" >> the design of many of >> them makes it clear that this was exactly the >> intention. It is perhaps >> questionable whether he is actually resting his lute >> on the knife >> handle: it appears to be supported by the table. >> >> The broken lute at his feet is interesting for its >> details of interior >> construction. I have a feeling that either the >> artist had never >> actually seen the interior construction, or 15th >> century lutes were >> built much differently than 16th-century ones. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
