Three 19th C. knives with boxwood handles carved by the same hand, featuring pelicans.

Three knives with boxwood handles. Overall length 26 cm. Length of handle 9 cm. The delicately carved handles, all by the same maker,  show a pelican picking its own breast. Just below it a young bird and below that a cow, and a hare and a horse. Also between the birds legs a small ball is free floating, a typical feature of knives from Zeeland. The feeding pelican is a symbol of charity in the early Christian tradition. The knife blades are stamped "F.Herder Abr.Sohn Solingen". The knives are in mint condition and were made around 1850.