Italian, later 18th century probobly, early 19th century at the latest. Very nice catch Nando!
Much better than most I see.
For some reason best known to my computer I'm having trouble viewing entire posts at once today! I see the rest now!
If you indeed paid a 'gold' price for this dagger, then don't worry they are usually expensive and seldom this nice.
BTW, I think it's a lion and a stag.
Edit: Here's another described as 'Italian late 18thC'