Period Photos of People with Ethnographic Arms

[Rick]

Middle picture:
Looks like an old Iver Johnson top break revolver w/pearl grips on his belt.
Beautiful kit.

The three in the picture below him all look like they are carrying swords,.

[gp]

Originally Posted by Rick

Middle picture:

The three in the picture below him all look like they are carrying swords,.

it actually is a caronero; a long knife used by the gauchos.
But it looks that indeed other weapons like swords might have been borrowed...

[gp]

article called "PROMENADE A TRAVERS LA PAMPA GAUCHO" a walk through the gaucho's pampa from 1881

and how it looked like

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JDDX_z7tT10

and a little info on these long ones:

http://esgrimacriolla.blogspot.com/2...-caronero.html

[Ian]

gp,

I'm not sure those blades are very true to reality. They look more like folding knives, such as navaja, than facón or cuchillo. This could just as well be a Mediterranean scene, despite the legend to the drawing. Popular travelogues from the nineteenth century generally took a lot of license with what they presented, and often times the stories were written by people who had not ventured very far from Europe.

[fernando]

Amen.

[David R]

I am also very sceptical of the "ice-pick" grip of the blades, which is rare in real life and specialised for a power strike or finishing move. As I understand it Gaucho fought for prestige and to settle disputes usually with a poncho or blanket wrapped round the left arm as a protection.

[Turkoman.khan]

DUPRÉ, Louis (1789-1837). Voyage à Athènes et à Constantinople, ou Collection de portraits, de vues et de costumes grecs et ottomans, peints sur les lieux. Paris: Dondey-Dupré, 1825

Ralioundji. Military sailor attached to the Ottoman Admiralty