Ebay Dagger Not Sold
 

Hello, This dagger ended on ebay without a single bid which seems odd seeing the overall quality. It was listed as being a little over 12 inches in total length with a beautiful two piece horn grip,one piece light colored and the other dark with brass fittings. It looks to me to be from the the late 19th to early 20th century Philippines (Luzon) with heavy Spanish influence in its overall design. Too bad it was missing the sheath. I would love to hear the opinions of other forum members on this dagger.

Robert

What was the starting bid? I am surprised that you didn't bid Robert, given your inclinations. If i had seen it i think i probably would have bid myself. :shrug:

Hello David,
The starting bid was a little high at $150.00 but lately I have seen items of less than half the quality of this go for twice as much. My reason for not bidding on this was a good one, the WIFE!! :eek: For some reason she thinks I spend too much money on things like this :confused: Never could figure her out. :D

Robert

I'm not sure this is that old. Older ones seem to me to have one piece carabao horn hilts. This is a mixture and the quality of the hilt reminds me of those of a little later, say 1920s and later.

Hello Jose, I bow to your superior knowledge on dating this. Again, NOT the first time I've been mistaken on something. :o :D :o I have seen a couple of these daggers with two piece hilts very similar to this that were dated to the late 1890s and thought that this could be of the same age. Still, this seems to be a very nice piece with good age even if it is of a little later manufacture.

Robert

Really? I could be mistaken. What I base my opinion on is the way the brass is formed and the lighter horn used that I don't think is carabao but a trade horn? If you have pictures of others I would love to see them. They would be very helpful to me and my learning.

Jose, I'm on a new computer and haven't transfered all of my old files over yet but will post them ASAP. If the lighter horn is cow horn instead of lighter colored water buffalo horn I wouldn't have thought that it would have been all that uncommon with the Spanish bringing in goods from Mexico and Cuba. I have another sword that has a light colored piece of horn on the hilt also.

Robert

Hi Robert
LOL ... this reinforces my, I do not feel alone now ... :o
that the force be with you :p

à +

Dom

hi all ...

sometimes carabao horn has a very light shade because they come from those occasional albino carabaos.

am not familiar yet with cow horn (as used as hilts) and thus i wouldn't know how to differentiate it from carabao horn (whether the regular or the albino kind).

The dagger seems post WW2 I have one with a clip point blade same exact type of hilt and markings will post a picture of it tonight.

Lew,
That's great. Now we can get a better idea as to its actual age. Like I said, I have been wrong about dating items like this more than once. :o Looking forward to the pictures.

Robert

Here you go. It looks like it was super cleaned up but I got it cheap so it does not bother me. ;)

Hello Lew,
WOW, Now that does look like an exact match as far as the hilt goes. What type of horn is it that the grip on yours made of, is it carabao horn, cows horn or something else all together? I have no way of telling on this one other than guessing by looking at the picture. Well, maybe this wasn't such a bad thing that no one bid on it. Sure had me fooled into thinking it was a lot older. :o :o :o Thanks again for the picture.

Robert