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What were these made for exactly? I take it they weren't really Gaucho knives by the 1940s, so who was buying them?
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1. Check out the last paragraph of the first section and the last section in
this essay by Abel A. Domenech.
2. Beyond that, for probably the same reasons there is a decent market for the works of modern custom knife makers (and swordsmiths). It is a heritage thing.
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Originally Posted by Chris Evans
With the passing of time, highly esteemed old Euro blades have been re-mounted in expensive new furnishings, so apart from the blade one cannot even be sure of the age of the piece as a whole.
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The age of the 'piece as a whole' derives, in my opinion, from the date of the last major reworking. Hence, the takouba illustrated at the top of this page is, in fact, a modern takouba of the 21st century - despite it perhaps having the oldest blade of any takouba I have ever handled. Whenever an edged weapon form remains 'alive' within a culture, these regular refurbishments are likely to be going on, making the task of the collector a little more complex. And, as per Chris' observation, it is usually the best old blades that are first up for remounting and enhancement - though I rather doubt that great old period silver gaucho knife mounts would be lightly discarded at this point in time.