Pugio Questions

[Rotvndvs]

I'm not 100% sure this is the right forum, but here goes.

Recently, I stumbled on this picture, which is obviously from a museum but is uncredited:

Does anyone have any additional information about this pugio? Personally, I think it's gorgeous, but I have no idea if the designs on the pommel and scabbard are stamped, enameled, chiseled, etc. It looks to me like the pommel is steel and the scabbard is brass, but I cannot tell from the picture how the design is achieved.

I would love to find a pugio on the market that I could (with time and tools) slowly customize into a weapon like this. Any suggestions, or anyone with direct knowledge about this pugio?

Thanks!

[jvrjenivs]

At first sight, but I don't know this example directly, it seems to me that it was chiseled and inlaid with enamel and others.

You could buy a simple pugio blade from an Indian trader and then make your own scabbard for it, including this kind of decorations. At least that's the way I'm going through (but first have to finish a lot of other pieces, imhoo)

[Rotvndvs]

Thanks!

I thought it was probably enameled, because I think I see little dots of red in the looping pattern and around the star pattern.

I'm still hoping against hope that someone on the board will pop up and say "oh yeah, that one's in the museum down the street from me." :wink:

[Peroni]

IIRC this dagger is in the University Art Museum at Princeton? :?:

It is brass inlay on iron.

[John M McDermott]

What is its period?

[Rotvndvs]

IIRC this dagger is in the University Art Museum at Princeton? :?:

It is brass inlay on iron.

Really? Thanks for the tip!

[Peroni]

What is its period?

As with most Type 'A' daggers (inlaid iron sheath) it would be early to mid first Century John.

[Rotvndvs]

The pugio isn't among the elements of the collection viewable online. I sent an email to the museum asking about it, so hopefully I'll know something more after the weekend.

Thanks again for the lead, Peroni!

[marcos]

What is its period?

As with most Type 'A' daggers (inlaid iron sheath) it would be early to mid first Century John.

mid first , yes, but probably until the end of the first or beginnig the second.

[Peroni]

sure, they would have still been in use until the time you suggest. We have a lot of handed-down military items.

Manufacture appears to have favoured the Type B daggers as a supersedant to the type A.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

But early first as well then?

[Rotvndvs]

I finally got a reply! So here we go:

Your query about our Roman pugio was forwarded to me. It was acquired from a dealer in 1999, and nothing more is known about its provenance. The accession number is 1999-148. An image was published in the Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, vol. 59 (2000) page 95. It also appeared in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts (March 2000) page 40, no. 159. It is otherwise unpublished. The iron blade is rusted in place inside the scabbard, which is inlaid with gold, silver, and niello, as are the hilt and pommel. It is 29.2 cm. long and 5.8 cm. wide at the hilt. The signature of the maker was inlaid in silver letters on the back of the hilt, but some letters have fallen out, and the corrosion makes an accurate reading difficult: _ O N L L I V S E C _ _ _ I E R F E C I T This has been interpreted as possibily reading "Honillius made it." Such daggers date primarily to the 1st century, but into the second. Most come from the northern Provinces: Gaul, Germany, Britain. For more on pugios of this type, see M. Bishop and J. Coulston, Roman Military Equipment (1991) 74ff; and G. Ulbert, Gaius Antonius, der Meister des silbertauschierten Dolches von Oberammergau (1971). Should you wish to puerchase a photograph, please contact Karen Richter ( [email protected] ).
Sincerely,
Michael Padgett

J. Michael Padgett, Ph.D.
Curator of Ancient Art
Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton, NJ 08544

[John M McDermott]

But still, no idea as to whether it is early first century or late first century.

[jkaler48]

But still, no idea as to whether it is early first century or late first century.

A question that may have been answered if it had been found in a regular dig
rather that just appearing without a prior history. It is a bit odd that the museum decided on a purchase. Perhaps they did due diligence to determine it wasn't a looted cultural treasure from an illegal dig in perhaps Eastern Europe. It wouldn't be allowed by Ebay rules without a known history I suspect.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Well, it wouldbebetter to have it in a museum anyway, rather than dissappear into the ether of a private collection. It is pretty nice.
similar to some of the balkan/austrian daggars.