Ein Paar Vorlegemesser (Vorlegebesteck)

The handles of these knives, used to carve and serve food at table, are emblazoned with the arms of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy: a golden lily set on blue ground (Azure fleurs-de-lis Or; House of Valois) with a redand-white border (Azure bordure gules, three fleur-de-lis Or; cadet branch of the House of Valois), a field of blue and gold bars with a red border (Or two bends sinister and azure with bordure Sanguine; Burgundy ancient), and the lions of, respectively, Limbourg (lion rampant queue forchée Gules crowned, armed and langued Or), Brabant (a lion sable or armed and langued gules), and Flanders (Or, a lion rampant sable, armed and langued gules).

Below the crest are fire steels emitting sparks, the emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Philip founded this order of chivalry on 10 January 1430, on the occasion of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. The handle is engraved with an abbreviated version of the duke’s motto, aultre naray – short for Aultre ne’auray, Dame Isabeau, tant que vivray (‘I desire no other, Lady Isabella, as long as I shall live’).

Philip’s reign marked Burgundy’s first highpoint of political power and cultural dominance. Through clever negotiations, he was able to enlarge the northern domains of the House of Burgundy in what is today Belgium and the Netherlands. These acquisitions – of which Flanders formed the heart since the late fourteenth century – meant that the Burgundian power base moved from the south (the Duchy of Burgundy, with its capital Dijon) north to the Low Countries. This shift in power is reflected in the choice of domains included in the ducal arms.