Scabbard mouthplate

Mouthpiece of a gladius

The scabbard mouth plate is a metal fitting on the opening of a scabbard for edged weapons (e.g. dagger , knife , sword ).

Scabbard mouth plates are usually made of bronze or iron or brass and less often of precious metals . They are designed to prevent the scabbard from being damaged when the sharp blade is inserted. In addition to their protective function, they also have an ornamental and decorative function, the scabbard mouth plates are then elaborately decorated and partially gold-plated or silver-plated.

The counterpart at the tip of the sheath is the chape . This is intended to prevent the blade tip from piercing through the material of the sheath when the sharp blade is inserted.

literature

• D. Quast: A Scandinavian Späthascheidenmouthplate of the migration period from Pikkjärve (Põlvamaa, Estonia ), in: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz 51 (2004), pp. 243-279.