Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

cdkjacobson · 13th October 2011, 01:43 PM

I recently received an odd dagger from my aunt. She got it from her father, who got it from a friend, who got it from someone who found it in a destroyed museum in Germany during WWI. He thought it might be Egyptian (which I doubt, as I study Egyptian archaeology), but that is all the information I have on it.

The handle is horn (I think gazelle, but could be a small section of blackbuck horn) and the blade is metal (don't know what kind, possibly an iron alloy). This overall condition of the dagger makes me think it can't be more than a couple hundred years old, if that. It's also not particularly well made - the guard is loose and the connection of hilt with blade is cheaply done - so it could be an imitation of something older.

I'm thinking it might be Indian, or an imitation of an Indian dagger. The hilt is reminiscent of a fakir's horn and the curve of the blade reminds me of a bichwa. I can't find any parallels for this exact type of blade; the closest thing I have been able to find was in a post on this forum a year ago - the "Spanish fighting knives": http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12657

I've attached pictures below. Does anyone have any thoughts about the provenance, date, authenticity of such a dagger? Thanks,

Courtney

13th October 2011, 01:43 PM	#1
cdkjacobson Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Chicago, IL, USA Posts: 2	Has anyone ever seen a dagger like this? I recently received an odd dagger from my aunt. She got it from her father, who got it from a friend, who got it from someone who found it in a destroyed museum in Germany during WWI. He thought it might be Egyptian (which I doubt, as I study Egyptian archaeology), but that is all the information I have on it. The handle is horn (I think gazelle, but could be a small section of blackbuck horn) and the blade is metal (don't know what kind, possibly an iron alloy). This overall condition of the dagger makes me think it can't be more than a couple hundred years old, if that. It's also not particularly well made - the guard is loose and the connection of hilt with blade is cheaply done - so it could be an imitation of something older. I'm thinking it might be Indian, or an imitation of an Indian dagger. The hilt is reminiscent of a fakir's horn and the curve of the blade reminds me of a bichwa. I can't find any parallels for this exact type of blade; the closest thing I have been able to find was in a post on this forum a year ago - the "Spanish fighting knives": http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12657 I've attached pictures below. Does anyone have any thoughts about the provenance, date, authenticity of such a dagger? Thanks, Courtney Attached Images