Interesting African adaptation of British carving knife
 

Nicely made scabbard and leather bound handle on this big English carver.

Thats pretty impressive. Are there any markings on teh blade that woudl identify it as English?

Sorry no .. it was an assumption due to shape & style .

Ah! It is a good assumption to make. African items rarely appeal to me but thsi is a very neat knife indeed

I assume it is Manding or thereabouts due to the leather style ?

Hi Richmond, the difficulty with a piece like this and a precise ethnic attribution is that I don't think it's massively old, certainly 20th century. Certain styles are so endemic to the wider Sahel region for leather working that its often impossible to say with any degree of certainty who made what, or at the very least way out of my skill level!

That massive caveat out of the way... :D I think this was certainly made in an area with Manding influence, that's based on the handle wrap geometric patterns. The scabbard is not typical Manding in that sharply raised bands of leather are not present except at the top and those are pretty muted. The lower 3/4s reminds me more of a Hausa or Fulani scabbard. So a real mix.

Interestingly this doesn't seem to have been adapted to a usual arm dagger but a belt dagger?

Cheers,

Iain

Thanks Iain ... your opinions are always very welcome. Yes I am sure this is 20th C .. the knife being a typical one from the first half of the 20th C . The scabbard is definitely designed as a belt carrier.
Richmond