Another Luzon Knife/Dagger

[Robert]

Latest epray find is this nice Luzon knife. Total length is 14-1/2 inches with a 9--1/2 inch blade. Though it is missing some of the wire hilt wrapping it does still have the hilt banding still in place. I cannot tell in the auction photos below if the banding is of brass or silver because of the oxidation. As always your thought or comments would be very welcome.

Regards,
Robert

[Battara]

Interesting piece. The mounts are oxidized brass - typical of this type if hilt.

[Robert]

Hello Jose, Yes I agree that the mounts are of brass. What I am wondering about is the hilt banding. If you look at the photos of the hilt itself you can see the banding as a wider and darker spiral stripe going around the hilt. It is heavily oxidized so it is hard to say what it actually is though being the color it is now there is a chance that it is made of silver. The other smaller grooves I am sure could have had either twisted wire in some and possibly a single strand in others.

Regards,
Robert

[Battara]

Now I see (as the blind man picked up his table and saw...:D ).

If there is indeed a metal strap inside then it is silver from what I can see. (However it there is only a groove, then it is the wood itself).

[Sajen]

Hello Robert,

very nice find, now I want something similar! :D

Also don't have seen at first the possible silver banding.

Regards,

Detlef

[Robert]

Hello Jose and Detlef, I believe that the hilt is made from horn and not wood, or I really hope that it is. :D Here is a little better photo orthe hilt to show the banding that I now do believe to be of silver.


Regards,
Robert

[Battara]

Anyway for you to test the metal?

[Robert]

Not until it arrives. :D It just ended yesterday.

[Robert]

The dagger arrived today and the hilt is indeed made of horn and the banding is of silver. The edge on this is still almost sharp enough to shave with. I will post some new photos of this tomorrow after I recover to show the silver and also post the measurements in case they might be needed for later comparison.

Regards,
Robert

[Robert]

Overall Length 14-1/2 inches
Blade Length 9-1/2 inches
Blade At Thickest 1/4 inch
False Edge 6-1/2 inches
Hilt Length 5 inches

[Battara]

OOOOO.........perdy with that shiny silver!

Will you be using twised brass or silver wire for the rest of the hilt.

[Atlantia]

Now that looks GREAT!
Nice addition to the ever swelling collecion Robert!
:)
Gene

[Sajen]

Pretty nice dagger! Congrats! :)

Regards,

Detlef

[Robert]

Jose, Gene and Detlef, thank you all for your kind words. To answer your question Jose, I am going to remove the horn pegs that are still holding the remnants of the original wire wrap and then replace them accordingly. One odd thing about this daggers hilt is that instead of being eight or six sided this one is seven sided, something I have only seen a couple of times before. Can anyone tell me if this is this common to any one particular location or not? Going by the style and the quality of workmanship I think that this dagger would date to the last part of the nineteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century. What are your opinions on the age? Thank you all again and I will post a few more photos after the wire wrap has been replaced.

Regards,
Robert

[Battara]

Oh I agree with you completely on age.

[Dimasalang]

Excellent piece! Very nice! :)