The knife tattoo meaning, like the sword is a male symbol, its a phallic symbol, force and inner strength. The knife is one of the oldest and most important tools created by man. It is an object associated with the man’s primary needs. It has many uses, including domestic use, agricultural use and surgical use and as a weapon of offence or defence.
Knives have been found in many archaeological sites of all cultures related to Homo Sapiens. In the Palaeolithic, the man used sharp knives of stone, bone or other hard materials, without any wooden handle.
The different shapes of the Knife
The characteristic shape of the knife, which remains unchanged through the times, is distinguished from the one of the sword by the blade, short and sharp on only one of the two sides.
Subsequently, the common knife was made of iron or bronze, with a handle made of metal or bone, very often adorned with figures and decorations, reaching the realisation of knives of undisputed artistic value embellished with materials and precious stones and particular engravings.
Different Daggers Tattoo Designs
Knife Tattoo Meaning
A Mystical Object
The knife has always been wrapped in a touch of mysticism, which led to its use for ritual and ceremonial purposes.
The iron knives were not well regarded as cult knives but the bronze ones were preferred.
One of the great knives of the Roman era was the Secespita, a sacrifice knife used by priests for animal sacrifices. The Secespita had a long and wide blade, almost triangular, with a short and wide handle.
In all those societies in which religion required blood sacrifice, the knife was used, while the sword was used for suicide.
In the Mediterranean area, Sardinian knives made of wood and obsidian were very famous, a black and hard stone, very common on the island.
Switchblade, “Italian Stiletto”
Knife Tattoo Meaning
The Switchblade
It is the Knights of Malta, in the 12th century, who spread the use of leppa, a knife similar to a small saber, with a fixed steel blade 50 or 60 centimeters long, used as a work tool by farmers, shepherds and by hunters.
In the sec. XIII the knife is already decorated with loving care in the ivory handle, adorned with carvings, tunnels, enamels with coats of arms, with noble insignia and very personal, kept in special leather cases tied to the belt.
In the knives, as in many other precious objects, we find all the varieties of art. Due to the goodness of the blades and the artistic value of the handles, Italian knives were objects in great demand since the Middle Ages.
During the eighteenth century there was a widespread diffusion of the so-called “Italian stiletto” or “molletta”, switchblades inspired by the classic Italian Stiletto with a fixed blade. They were real daggers with a double sharp edge and a blade that could be re-inserted into the handle.
If you are interested in reading more about this topic visit the page Dagger Tattoo Meaning.
Our Tattoo Clothing Inspired by the Switchblade
