Shagreen African?

RobT · 31st October 2005, 02:54 AM

Hi All,
Given the decoration on the sheath, I believe this small dagger to be African but I've never seen a blade like this nor have I seen the use of shagreen on an African piece. Overall the dagger measures 10 3/8" (26.35cm) with a blade length of 6 3/8" (16.19cm). The small but robust blade is flat on one side and has a strongly raised rib on the other. To accommodate the blade, the sheath has a triangular cross section. There is shark or rayskin on both the hilt and sheath. Can anyone tie this dagger to a specific group?
Sincerely,
RobT

Tim Simmons · 31st October 2005, 12:40 PM

Very interesting having a mid rib on one side only. I have been looking in some books and although I cannot find an exact match, I feel this knife is probably Tiv from Nigeria, the same blade form is seen in their all metal loop daggers, if not Tiv then from that area of Nigeria and Cameroon borders. Tim

Freddy · 31st October 2005, 05:10 PM

I agree fully with Tim.

The use of shark skin could indicate that this dagger originates from a place near the coast where this type of product could occur more easily.

Interesting dagger.

Lew · 31st October 2005, 07:38 PM

Hi Guys

I posted a similar dagger a few months ago!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...african+dagger

Lew

RobT · 2nd November 2005, 03:01 AM

Tim and Freddy ,
Tiv (or Tiv related) sounds plausable to me. They would have ready access to shark and rayskin from the Atlantic. I should have picked up on the leaf shaped/center rib similarities between the Tiv loop dagger blade and my wife's blade. Thanks for pointing it out.
Louieblades,
Thanks for the link to the thread. Your hilt and my wife's are very similar. I was watching your hilt appear on the screen and thinking gee haw, we've got a match and then the blade and sheath came up and it was dang, we have a puzzle. It seems with African pieces especially that you'll get a match with one or two of the three main components (hilt, sheath, blade) but one or two of the components so frequently don't match. Your blade with its flattened diamond cross section and my wife's one sided raised rib design are a perfect case in point. Furthermore, yours appears to be an arm dagger whereas the loop on Barb's sheath appears to be designed for belt carry. Both daggers are rather small for African pieces and I wonder if the that small size doesn't indicate that they were meant for women (although I don't know if women wore arm daggers). If they didn't, that shoots that theory down.
Sincerely,
RobT

31st October 2005, 02:54 AM	#1
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 456	Shagreen African? Hi All, Given the decoration on the sheath, I believe this small dagger to be African but I've never seen a blade like this nor have I seen the use of shagreen on an African piece. Overall the dagger measures 10 3/8" (26.35cm) with a blade length of 6 3/8" (16.19cm). The small but robust blade is flat on one side and has a strongly raised rib on the other. To accommodate the blade, the sheath has a triangular cross section. There is shark or rayskin on both the hilt and sheath. Can anyone tie this dagger to a specific group? Sincerely, RobT Attached Images

2nd November 2005, 03:01 AM	#5
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 456	Tiv sounds right Tim and Freddy , Tiv (or Tiv related) sounds plausable to me. They would have ready access to shark and rayskin from the Atlantic. I should have picked up on the leaf shaped/center rib similarities between the Tiv loop dagger blade and my wife's blade. Thanks for pointing it out. Louieblades, Thanks for the link to the thread. Your hilt and my wife's are very similar. I was watching your hilt appear on the screen and thinking gee haw, we've got a match and then the blade and sheath came up and it was dang, we have a puzzle. It seems with African pieces especially that you'll get a match with one or two of the three main components (hilt, sheath, blade) but one or two of the components so frequently don't match. Your blade with its flattened diamond cross section and my wife's one sided raised rib design are a perfect case in point. Furthermore, yours appears to be an arm dagger whereas the loop on Barb's sheath appears to be designed for belt carry. Both daggers are rather small for African pieces and I wonder if the that small size doesn't indicate that they were meant for women (although I don't know if women wore arm daggers). If they didn't, that shoots that theory down. Sincerely, RobT

31st October 2005, 12:40 PM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,741	Very interesting having a mid rib on one side only. I have been looking in some books and although I cannot find an exact match, I feel this knife is probably Tiv from Nigeria, the same blade form is seen in their all metal loop daggers, if not Tiv then from that area of Nigeria and Cameroon borders. Tim

31st October 2005, 05:10 PM	#3
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	I agree fully with Tim. The use of shark skin could indicate that this dagger originates from a place near the coast where this type of product could occur more easily. Interesting dagger.

31st October 2005, 07:38 PM	#4
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	Hi Guys I posted a similar dagger a few months ago! http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...african+dagger Lew