Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Ian · 21st April 2020, 11:55 PM

Detlef,

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.

Ian.

21st April 2020, 11:55 PM	#5
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,035	Detlef, 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. Ian.