Left Hand Dagger With Engraved Motto, Louis XIV

This large left-handed dagger has the particularity of having a guard and a handle in chiseled brass. The shape of the ring guard and the rest of the handle are evocative of the 1600s, but the use of brass corresponds in my opinion to a later manufacture, corresponding to the reign of Louis XIV rather than that of his father, so we are here in the 2nd half of the 17th century, when the first" strong swords" with cast brass mounts appeared in parallel, but here the finesse of the chiseling of the hilt shows that this weapon is not a mass production, but corresponds to a private order, which is confirmed by the motto on the blade.
BLADE : After a ricasso of 2.4cm, it takes a diamond shape with 2 edges. On the outer face, at the level of the ricasso, we find the initials "IHS" "for Iesus Hominem Salvator (Jesus savior of men) bordered by a small frieze, and surmounting 3 small crosses. On the inner face at the ricasso, we find the Latin motto "SEMPER PRAESTO" (always ready, always available, but also always present) which can be interpreted in different ways: Always ready to serve my King, always ready to face death, or "my blade is always ready to come out of its scabbard". This form of the motto  is rarer than the modern form : "semper paratus"
On the first third of the blade, on each face, we find a motif called "Jacob's ladder"
Length of the blade = 27.6 cm width at the ricasso = 2.6 cm, thickness at the ricasso = 45.2 mm
GUARD: It is a guard with a large central ring and 2 flattened quillons curved towards the blade. The quillons and the ring are twisted and decorated with pearls chiseled at the edge of each twist.
POMMEL : It is shaped like a flattened bulb, called a "Turkish turban" and twisted. It is topped with a very small, very flattened button, on which the blade's tang is riveted.
GRIP : It is twisted in 2 parts around a central ring that is also twisted. The twists of the 2 parts are highlighted with fine lines, and those of the ring are decorated with a frieze of pearls.
In conclusion, it is a left handdagger probably made for an officer, and therefore a nobleman, bearing a motto and a protective invocation. The brass guard and handle are particularly uncommon.
Ref B-2574
Shipping costs France €20, Europe €30