Object description
This object had two purposes. In the Bronze Age it was used as a dagger. However, in the 19th and 20th century it was used as a letter opener by John Hunt, one of the museum’s founders. The blade dates to between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC whilst the handle (haft) was added in the 19th or 20th century. The blade is narrow, with gently curving sides. We can also observe that the handle has been decorated with a herring-bone, zigzag and dog-tooth ornament.
John Hunt's letter opener/ Dagger/ Metal, Copper Alloy, Bronze/ 3rd to 2nd millenium BC (blade); 19th-20th century (haft)/ The Hunt Collection/PD
Bronze Age daggers
The Bronze Age in Ireland is divided into three stages: Early, Middle and Late. These classifcations are based on technological and cultural developments. As this dagger dates to between the 3rd and 2nd millenium BC, it belongs to the Early Bronze Age.
The Hunt Museum is home to a fine collection of Bronze Age artefacts, many of which are weapons such as this dagger. While we do not know the provenance of this particular blade, a large amount of Bronze Age material has been discovered in the River Shannon. Over 100 artefacts including daggers, axe heads, swords and spearheads have been found through dredging. We cannot say for certain why these daggers were found in the river. It has been surmised that they could have been deposited as ritual offerings to deities. We know that in the Late Bronze Age, the deposition of hoards in sacred places had become a common practice, as is illustrated by finds in various bogs such as Dowris, Co. Offaly.
In other Bronze Age civilisations, such as the Minoans on the island of Crete, daggers have been found in a burial context. The daggers have been found in male burials along with other items such as spearheads and pottery. The burial of weapons alongside their assumed male owners is thought to siginify that a warrior or hunter status was an important part of Minoan society.
The Hunt family, left to right: Gertrude, Trudy, John Hunt Junior and John Hunt Sr.
John Hunt
John Hunt was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1900. In 1933, he married Gerturde Hartmann, who was from Germany. They opened an antique shop and dealership in Bury Street, London. The Hunts would take a few weeks every year to travel in search of antiquities, particularly medieval artworks and artefacts. They established successful relationships with several well-known art collectors and art museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Many of the objects and artworks collected by the Hunts are in museums around the world, such as the British Museum, London. In 1975 they donated the collection to the people of Ireland. At first, the Irish government refused the donation as they had nowhere to store or exhibit it. Luckily, it found a home at the University of Limerick, then briefly at Craggaunowen. In 1997, the collection moved to the Custom House in Limerick City which was renovated by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
To search for more of our Bronze Age objects, head to the Explore section of our website.
Sources
Branigan, K. “The Early Bronze Age Daggers of Crete.” The Annual of the British School at Athens, vol. 62, 1967, pp. 211–39. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30103683. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.
Bourke, L. A Watery End: Prehistoric metalwork in the Shannon. Archaeology Ireland
Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 9-11 .Wordwell Ltd.
National Museum of Irealnd. https://microsites.museum.ie/bronzeagehandlingbox/bronze-age.html
Yannai, Eli, and Arieh Rochman-Halperin. “Burial Caves of the Intermediate Bronze Age (Early Bronze Age IV) at Ḥanita.” ’Atiqot / עתיקות, vol. 59, 2008, p. 193*-194*. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23465871. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.
