''Old'' dagger

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by francantolin

Hello dear members,

What do you think of this dagger ?
Said to be 19th century but from unknown origin...
The scabbard dont fit perfectly with the blade so I think ii's a replacement one...
The hilt is well made but dont look really old.. ?

Seems like to be North African, Mauritania area, with those small brass inlays to the wooden hilt. Scabbard probably from a repurposed European bayonet or sword.... Interesting piece, probably 20th century ?

[M ELEY]

If Mauritanian/North African, perhaps a 'put-together' from WWII made by a local tribesman? Mussolini's forces were here and also Rommel (I think. My WW2 knowledge is minimal).

Perhaps we could see a closeup of the blade? If it's diamond-shaped in cross profile, I doubt the blade is African unless trade piece. The hilt, on the other hand...

[francantolin]

Hello,
Thank you all for the comments and interest,
Sadly I have no other pics for the moment,
I will receive it soon and make some pictures.

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

Perhaps we could see a closeup of the blade? If it's diamond-shaped in cross profile, I doubt the blade is African unless trade piece. The hilt, on the other hand...

The blades from the Mauritania area are often to be found with that same shallow diamond cross-section blade, as per this example. They are also to be found with straight blades.

[M ELEY]

Oh boy! Well, being that the blade is diamond-shaped, the pommel 'rough' and with brass inlay, I guess we've cinched it that it is probably African then. I wasn't aware of diamond-pattern blades from the continent.