You learn something new each day:

Bufala mediterranea italiana, is the only indigenous Italian breed of water buffalo.It is of the River subtype of water buffalo, and is similar to the buffalo breeds of Hungary, Romania and the Balkan countries. Previously considered to belong to the Mediterranean buffalo grouping, it was officially recognised as a breed in 2000, based on its long isolation from, and lack of interbreeding with, other buffalo breeds. A herdbook was opened in 1980....

Not sure how their horn compares with other breeds of water buffalo - but if solid, not a lot of good for ferrules.

Jimmy, I'll try to find some comparable images, but if you could take a) an image at 90 degrees to the blade, and b) a close up of the marks on the blade, it would help..

i hope this will help......

Many thanks - the weld line on the blade is very typical of European billhooks - a steel edge forge welded onto a wrought iron body (this process was continued well into the 20th century). The blade shape is not a coomon one, nor is the handle... The best match for a blades shape is that of an Italian decorated one sold a few years ago (with a rather nasty brass handle fitted)... I'll try to find more examples...

It looks like a tea knife.

n2s

Tea knives/pruning hooks tended to be quite small - blades about 6" long - but all pruning prior to the invention of the secateur c1830 was carried out using a small billhook/pruning hook, so it could be used for any sort of pruning: fruit trees, bushes, roses, berry plants - as well as for hedging and coppicing work - a true 'jack of all trades' type of tool...

Buffalo {of all types.} cow, goat, bull, sheep & ram are all hollow at the base of the horn, & have varying amounts of solid horn towards the tip, water buffalo having the greater proportion solid though compared to the other species.

Spiral

Hi Manteris1 - the more I look at this tool the more I think it may actually be Spanish in origin - no reason I can think of, just a gut feeling..