This is a quillon dagger that I have just posted up on Face Book and as a few of people have brought up, the dating is a little questionable, so please let me know your thoughts on the dates.
The dating was provided by the eBay and museum sites, but it does seem a little odd, so here is my FB post text.
"14thC quillon dagger with nagel.
The excellent Christian Cameron put me onto this dagger from eBay, at which point I assumed it was a fake, as I had never seen anything like it before, but there are two UK museums that have very similar pieces in their collections, so it is a real piece, just at least 150 years before I have seen this sort of feature on a dagger.
Bronze guard with octagonal arms and a flattened 'shell' shaped nagel. The pommel is also bronze and is hollow and the grip is box wood.
The blade is single edged with a faceted false edge from tip to guard.
The scabbard is in double layer vegan leather with a mythical beast and fitted with a bronze chape.
Dated mid 14thC - UK"
James Elmslie also added a few links on my FB page to very similar guards.
Tod
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