African dagger
 

Hello,
I would be very grateful for any opinions about this African dagger (Senegal?)

Hi Lucasz,

Please take a look at this thread

This knife comes probably from West Africa, and Senegal is a good guess. The handle is not typical of Bamanan knifes (Mali) or Manding ones, but there is a lot of ethnic groups in this region and the styles are often not realy defined.

Sincerely,

Zan

Oups...
 

A little mistake...

Here is the link :

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1734

Zan

Hi Zan,
I thought about Senegal in view of sheath with tassels, but I haven't seen handle like this so far. I am not very familiar with African edged weapon, so I am very grateful for any advices.
Lukasz

Hi,

Is the handle leather-covered ? Is it marqued ? It is hard to tell from your picture. Can you post a close-up of the handle ?

The leatherwork and the blade are by the way realy typical of West Africa (Senegal, Côte-D'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso...).

Sincerely,

Zan

Hi Zan,

Yes, the handle is wooden and the leather-covered.
Unfortunately it isn't marqued. It has only stamped zigzags on both sides of blade, geometric pressed decorations on sheath and thin lines on handle.

best regards
Luk

Hi Lucasz,

Very interesting. I have no clue for this kind of handle, maybe someone else in this forum can help ?

I am prety sure that this knife is authentic, and not tourist-made. The marks on the blade are usualy seen on tourist-grade spring steel blades. But here, it seems obvious that this blade is a real localy-made one. Realy nice.

Where did you find the knife ?

Sincerely,

Zan

Hi Zan,
It comes from one of the polish familiy collections, which was collected before 1939. I don't know anything more about history of this concrete item.
Best regards
Luk