Old Argentinian facon ...

[Ian]

Don't see the real deal very often. This appears to be a 19th C. Argentinian facon. Just finished on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170038527686

The attached old picture (published 1890-1924, Carpenter Collection) shows a staged duel between two gauchos using similar long-bladed facon.

Ian.

[Hrthuma ibn Marwan]

how interesting really

[Lew]

Ian

It looks like an interesting dagger late 19th century I would say.


Lew

[Ian]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Ian

It looks like an interesting dagger late 19th century I would say.

Lew

Hi Lew:

Yes, I would think around 1900 give or take a decade or two. There are a couple of books on the Argentinian facón by Abel Domenech, one called Del Facón al Bowie and another called Dagas de Plata. Many facón were cut down swords or bayonets.

Ian.

[Chris Evans]

Hi Ian,

That is not a facon, at least in the nowadays regionally and commonly accepted sense of the word (facon simply means large knife). It looks like some mid to late 19th century Euro dagger, of probably military provenace. What these days is called a facon is some kind of cut down sword or bayonet blade mounted with a locally made hilt, usually in silver. See Dagas de Plata. The South Americans could not make blades, but had the means to fashion handcrafted hilts, almost always from silver sheet.

Cheers
Chris

[Lee]

In the picture below, the two on the top, I believe, would be facónes while the two on the bottom are cuchillas or gaucho knives. The blade on the top facón appears to have been purpose made, while that on the next lower knife appears to be a cut-down sword blade. I am told that the presence of a guard of some sort is required to term a particular example a facón.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Chris Evans

Hi Ian,

That is not a facon, at least in the nowadays regionally and commonly accepted sense of the word (facon simply means large knife). It looks like some mid to late 19th century Euro dagger, of probably military provenace. What these days is called a facon is some kind of cut down sword or bayonet blade mounted with a locally made hilt, usually in silver. See Dagas de Plata. The South Americans could not make blades, but had the means to fashion handcrafted hilts, almost always from silver sheet.

Cheers
Chris

Thanks Chris. You could be right. However, this knife was sold out of Buenos Aries as an antique knife (which it appears to be), and it has the characteristics that I associate with a facón: long blade, guard, leather sheath with a seam running down the front. Agree, that the brass hilt is atypical but not unheard of on South American knives. Could be a military blade. But I'll bet an old gaucho would have loved it and called it his facón if he had gotten his hands on it.

This knife is certainly a weapon, although it could be used for any purpose needing a sharp edge. And the gauchos used their facónes for just about any chore they could be used.

Cheers,

Ian.