Hello everybody, this is my first post to this forum.

Our family has owned an antique weapons collection for several generations, most of which was collected by our great-grandfather in the early 1900's. I'm hoping that somebody here will be able to help us identify some of these bladed weapons. They've been in storage for many years and unfortunately they haven't been maintained during all that time, so please excuse their poor condition. We're planning to do something about that, but first we'd like to have an idea of what we're starting with.

I've already posted five Japanese swords and knives on the Nihonto Message Board (http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5997), and it was suggested that I post the six non-Japanese items here.

I'm eager to learn more about this collection. I've been reading about the construction and history of the Japanese swords, but I have to admit that I know very little about the items that I'm posting on this site. Some of them appear to be European and some of the others are anybody's guess, including several odd-looking wavy-bladed swords and daggers. Several of the items look like total junk to me, although I wouldn't mind getting a confirmation of that from some of the forum members.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Dana P

(The items are numbered from "P6" through "P11" and are attached to this post and the following post.)

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P8

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P8

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P7

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P7

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P6

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P6

Here are the next three sets of photos. Thanks again.

Dana P

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P9

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P9

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P10

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P10

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P11

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P11

P8 and P9 are Moro Kris (or Sundang) from the Philippines. I'm not an expert but P8 looks like it might be a decent quality one, I doubt the handle on P9 is original and the blade quality looks lower.

P10 and P11 are Indonesian Keris.

P7 is a Kindjal, Caucasian or Russian I would think.

*EDIT* Whoops... I said pretty much the exact same thing as Adam did...

P6 looks like a naval dirk to me, maybe early 19th century? Probably with a bone handle.

Wow, thanks very much for all the excellent responses so far! I never could have figured this out by myself. Now that I have some useful names I'm going to look up all of these weapons to see what I can learn about them.

Nathan, do you have any idea what the function is of that metal mesh device that's hanging from the scabbard of P6? Also, when you say it "looks like a naval dirk", are you referring to the navy of a particular region? I'm sorry, but I really am quite clueless about these things.

I'm quite concerned about the advanced corrosion that is evident on some of the blades. Is this something I can tackle myself, or must I take them to a weapons expert? Can I at least apply a light coating of some type of oil to stop it from spreading?

Thanks again,
Dana P

The thing hanging from the dagger is often refered to as a sword knot. It used to allow one to secure a weapon in the hand, but later became mostly ceremonial. It actually looks quite a bit like the one hanging from my navy dress saber right now, which supports the naval dirk theory.

I love those pieces. I always meant to buy a nice kris when I was stationed in Japan and visiting the Philippines frequently, but never found the right one. And I've always had a soft spot for the kindjal. Nasty little CQB weapon. You have a nice collection.

:)

P7 is definitely a Kinjal. I would lean towards Caucassian origins mainly because of the decoration - but one must bear in mind that in Russian army those Caucasian weapons were quite popular so it has, most likely, belonged to Russian officer. I wold hazard a guess that it is a 19th century one - seen somes quite like this one, but I am no expert in those weapons. Could we get a close-up on scabbard choke? it looks like it has something engraved on it, if it is in Russian it would help solve the matter.

Well, that does clears it up a bit - it is written there in russian: Master K. Milandarov Ukr. Hunzah
K might stand for Konstantin which is a fairly common name in Russia. Ukr might be short for Ukraine, but I am not certain on that since city of Hunzah (Khunzakh) is in Dagestan. Another possibility is that Ukr stands for short of "ukrasil" - that would mean decorated - essentially that this master docorated the blade in the city of Hunzah..

Dana, are there any markings on the dirk? Maybe somewhere on the brass crossguard or blade? If there are any, some close up photos might reveal its origins. An armoury stamp or makers mark would help to determine where it was made and the approximate date of manufacture. Any history of how you came to posses it would also help. Actually, upon reviewing some dirks, I have found that the design continued to be used into World War I and World War II. My knowledge of these weapons is limited, and I know more about cutlasses and hangers than I do dirks, so maybe it's not 19th century. I hope someone else who knows more posts something.

Oh, six different bladed weapons! I was thinking a six-bladed weapon would probably be a Swiss army knife!

Just kidding! I'll return you to the people that know what they are talking about!

Hmm, that is interesting. I think I might be getting closer to dating it. I'm thinking late 19th or early 20th century, based on the sword knot and amount of age to the leather, and the condition of the blade and grip. You might also want to try Sword Forum, someone there might have more info. I don't recognize the markings though, and I really can't place the country of origin. I do hope the information I have given so far has been helpful.