ASPaulding,
The correct name for these knives is Cuchillo Criollo’ rather than `Gaucho Knives’, Gauchos were originally vagabonds who roamed the Pampas and could not anywhere afford a lavish piece like this. Throughout the 19th century the term gaucho morphed to include cattleman who worked from horse back, but all the same, none of these folks could afford an ornate silver mounted knife like this.
Knives of this standard were owned by ranch owners, their overseers and high ranking military men.
In the 19th century, the general practice was for local silversmiths to mount European trade blades, almost invariably stamped with the manufacturers brand, or with cut down discarded sword and bayonet blades for the larger ones. With time blades were refitted with new mountings and also some ornate and valuable mountings were fitted with new blades of various provenances, all this making full identification very difficult.
Your knife, while consistent with the general format of Criollo knives, has scabbard and handle features that do not fit the patterns that were turned out by the local silversmiths and could have been made in Europe. I must also mention that a somewhat small number of ornate fully mounted knives in this pattern were manufactured at the great European cutlery centers and exported to the Pampean regions. Also this knife may well pertain to Brazil or Uruguay rather than Argentina.
For a better evaluation, you could drop a line to Abel Domenech, fluent in English and the foremost authority on these knives.
Cheers
Chris
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