My apologies for the slow reply with more pictures. I have been preparing for a Band audition and all spare time has been consumed with practice
Here are more photos after an initial cleaning.
Sajen's suggestion of a repair to split wood (by covering with sheet) has some merit and I hadn't considered. However there is a minor crack along the top spine of the handle which would then be at complete opposite grain to the proposed break on the end that would have needed to be covered.
Figuring I will have to remove the sheet to get a better look underneath to see what is there. it looks quite rough. Like the original wood was a burl and instead of polishing, they decided to cover instead.
Any suggestions for safely removing the nails?
also, any suggestions for a non-invasive cleaning of the wood. Much of it is fragile and I don't want to be too agressive. I normally only use lighter fluid and then wood polish but this has been neglected for a very long time. There is a lot of accumulation