Bollock or ballock dagger with a carved wooden handle and a maker's mark on the blade. Bollock daggers are so-called due to the two oval swellings or lobes on the handle that give it a phallic appearence. They are also called 'kidney' daggers and were used as civilian weapons. In 1517 the Cutlers' Company decreed that all daggers should bear the maker's personal mark so that 'yt maybe knowen who makeyth good & perfite blads'. The marks were recorded in a ledger book held by the City.
