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Gavin Kisebach
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 Posted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 4:19 pm Post subject: Need help identifying dagger |
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A friend at work was showing me this dagger. He bought it at an estate sale in easter Canada two years ago, so provinance is unknown. It's beautifully balanced, reasonably sharp, and rather lovely in its own way. As you can see from the pictures, there's extensive tooling on the sheath and the knife, though the style does not quite match from one to another. It makes me wonder if the sheath isn't much older.
Based on the construction, I'd venture that it was made from industrial scrap in an underdeveloped nation, where materials are expensive and labor cheap. Personally I think it was made in central Asia, one of the Stans or the Himalayas, but this is only a guess.
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Sean Flynt
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 7:30 am Post subject: |
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| Sean Flynt wrote: | | Looks African to me. Something about the decoration and hilt.... |
Me too ! Maybe North Africa Morocco or Algeria ? But just a wild guess / gut feeling.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Sam Barris
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 8:33 am Post subject: |
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I couldn't venture a guess as to its origin, but to me it looks like it's based on something from classic sci-fi. Like, really classic. Flash Gordon or The Forbidden Planet or something. What an unusual looking hilt...
Perhaps the coat of arms might reveal more, unless it's mere decoration. Have you tried to look that up in any catalogues of heraldry?
Pax,
Sam Barris
"Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools." —Thucydides
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Hal Siegel
Industry Professional
Location: Austin, Texas Joined: 30 Aug 2003
Posts: 113
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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Nice example. It's from the northern Sahara, specifically the Maghreb. I have a friend who travels regularly to Morocco and the desert areas and who brings back similar daggers.
Hal Siegel - TherionArms
http://www.therionarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/TherionArms
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Gavin Kisebach
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Nice example. It's from the northern Sahara, specifically the Maghreb. I have a friend who travels regularly to Morocco and the desert areas and who brings back similar daggers. |
I hadn't thought of that, but it does make sense. I know that a lot of northern african waepons hang around for generations getting modified and rehilted - very little goes to waste, and there are some very clever folks who do a lot with a little. Thanks for the reply, do you have pics of anything similar?
| Quote: | | I couldn't venture a guess as to its origin, but to me it looks like it's based on something from classic sci-fi. Like, really classic. Flash Gordon or The Forbidden Planet or something. What an unusual looking hilt... |
I thought the exact same thing, very "spaceman spiff" - it's actually a wonderful grip, with a rock sold purchase. As I said, it a very unusual (to me) style and I like it a lot.
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Gavin Kisebach
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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Now that I think about it, the intricate geometric patterns would be appropriate in largely Islamic countries, would it not?
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Fabrice Cognot
Industry Professional
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Allan Senefelder
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Wed 30 Aug, 2006 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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The similarities between Gavins dagger and the pics Fabrice posted are pretty striking. There definitely seems to be a certain "flavor" to the decorational motif. Not at all unattractive (in fact I really like the dagger) but a definite style based on some regional preference or what have you.
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Gavin Kisebach
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| Posted: Thu 31 Aug, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: |
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I'm pretty convinced that Fabrice is right. That's a very interesting sword, and I like the set together. I'd be curious as to the actual handling of the thing. Is it big weight, or a real fighting piece?
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Fabrice Cognot
Industry Professional
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This is a standard topic
