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Country of origin?

John, any guess where this is from? The dragon head looks Norwegian to me but the rest seems Asian. The blade is not sharp, i think it may have been for tourist sale.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on October 23, 2015 at 17:52

The blade has some carving in it. not fancy but decorative.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 23, 2015 at 18:30

Maybe Peru or that region for the tourist trade?

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 24, 2015 at 10:12

Michael-I found one on on the web almost identical in appearance that sold for $56 in a private sale- Seller described it as an Indian curved dagger with sheath. Google Indian curved dagger and you will see about 11 different good photos of it. Here is one of them I copied for comparison.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on October 24, 2015 at 15:43

Almost identical? Im not sure you can get any closer, lol. Mine seems to be missing the brass bands on the scabard, it had tape in there place and I think so eone before me glued it, the tape was hoding it to dry. its dry now. India, hmm. ok.

At $56 I think the seller did well.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 24, 2015 at 17:21

Michael- Not sure you're right about it being a tourist item-- Bored, so I scanned a few hundred pages on daggers or Indian made knives. It would appear that yours and the one I showed you were the only 2 around- My assessment is they are by the same maker, and not as common as you might think. I realise that I have only one resource for your blades country of origin, but on the plus side, the seller was a collector of things-- Usually means they have done their homework-LOL After all is said and done, I got you close- Close counts in horseshoes & hand grenades at least,doesn't it ???

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Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on October 24, 2015 at 19:08

hey John, i just realised, unless his picture is reversed, these knives are left and right. the back side is not as ornate on mine and im guessing his is the same only oposite. Maybe they were a pair, ams separated long ago. weirder things habe happened.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on October 25, 2015 at 8:19

John, I did as you suggested and googled it. I found one more of the same knife sold at an auction in a group lot. It was also described as an Indian Curved Dagger. So its officially an Indian Curved Dagger. I still think its a tourist item, the quality is just not there for a uasable dagger, but I loke it either way.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 25, 2015 at 17:13

Michael- I did a little more digging and found this photo of a pair of blades on an auction house site and your dagger was indeed described as an Indian tourist dagger-- The picture I posted earlier was far less ornate on the obverse side as well. My thought is after you noted that the 2 were exact opposites as to the more ornate side and the non sharp blade is maybe these daggers were made to be wall hangers, made more for decorative, rather than functional use. My old roomie from 40 years ago, used to have a pair of epees made in much the same way to hang on the wall- They were steel and removable from their wall display, but blades had no sharpness. Anyhow, here is the pic of the one I found at the auction house, paired with another blade- The pair were expected to bring 40-60 British pounds or $60-90 US.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on October 25, 2015 at 18:13

Another auction house listing ...

Massai Warrior's dagger

However .. if one googles massai warrior's dagger .. I found no responses that matched the pictured item. i.e. I believe masssai warriors dagger may be a description unique to this auction house.