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Originally Posted by Ian
I believe you are correct in thinking this is a European knife made for the Venezuelan market. The guard looks European, but the cut out area on the ricasso is perhaps a nod to the "Spanish notch" seen on many Spanish colonial knives (as in your example of the Canary Island knife). This notch is not a choil because it is not continuous with the sharpened edge (as we have discussed here previously), but rather a cut out of the ricasso itself, and in the case of the Canary Island knife may have been to support the forefinger from sliding down on to the edge. The small ferrule might also be a tribute to the bolster or "button" seen on many guardless South American colonial knives.
Your knife seems to have been made specifically for the Spanish colonial market IMHO. I don't know its age, but from its appearance I would think it is likely first half of the 20th C. |
I am nearly sure about this. This Van Dissel, Rode & Co. company was a trading company with her roots in Hamburg, Germany, also a place for trading. So they will have ordered knives for the Venezuelan market and this maybe in Solingen. I know that it was habit that Solingen manufacturer signed blades also for request.
I would place it to the first quarter of the 20th century going by the floral ornament and the way the characters of VIVA LA REPUBLICA are formed. But this is just my humble opinion!
Thank you for comment Ian, maybe the stone starts rolling!
Regards,
Detlef