A scarce 17th Century English dagger of the so-called 'Buckingham' type

A scarce 17th Century English dagger of the so-called 'Buckingham' type, slender three-stage blade 8.75 in., the flattened diamond-section tip giving way to a edged section with saw back and etched decoration including the date 1630 and the motto 'Beatus qui timet Dominum' (blessed is [the man] who fears The Lord), ricasso etched with a female bust and the words 'Fear God' and 'Honour the King'; steel cross piece with quillons of flattened baluster form, encrusted in silver with foliate scrolls and masks; reeded wooden grip with small brass flowerhead cap.

Popular in England for much of the 17th Century, a dagger of this type is said to have been used to assassinate George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham on 23 August 1628.