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Originally Posted by RobT
Chris,
I have and have seen many 100+ year old blades in as good or better condition. Although I mentioned the superb condition of the blade in my initial post, I clearly stated that I considered the condition of the hilt and sheath to be the extraordinary issue and I reiterated this in my first response to Fernando K. His surmise that the hilt and sheath were actually created in the early 20th century could be a likely explanation for the excellent condition of those components. The blade condition isn't remarkable because, although the model is designated as 1871, the blade in question may have been made some years after that and may have sat in military storage for many years before it was sold as surplus or stolen. I would have to disagree that this piece was a working knife. The type of craftsmanship on the hilt and sheath is only seen on prestige/fighting weapons that are never used for labor which would quite quickly degrade the dress. As for who might have had use for such a large knife, perhaps it was worn as a symbol of authority/macho by a ranch owner or foreman who was channeling romantic notions of the Gaucho glory days. The blade could have even originally belonged to a deceased relative and thus, for sentimental reasons, be deemed worthy of fine dress. Whatever the explanation, nobody would put all that work into a movie prop.
Sincerely,
RobT
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I take your observations as valid value because it is not possible for readers like me to judge the quality of a weapon like this from mere photographs.
Re your other points, all I can say is that all the late and modern large facons that I have seen had ornate silver or the much cheaper alpaca (German silver) furnishings, and I haven't seen anything like yours.
It may be worth your while to write to Abel Domenech, the foremost expert on this subject who is fluent in English, and ask for his opinion. He has answered such queries in the past, and can be contacted at
dagasdeplata@yahoo.com - His website is
http://www.domenech.com.ar/
Cheers
Chris