Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Chris Evans · 24th October 2006, 11:34 AM

Hi Ian,

That is not a facon, at least in the nowadays regionally and commonly accepted sense of the word (facon simply means large knife). It looks like some mid to late 19th century Euro dagger, of probably military provenace. What these days is called a facon is some kind of cut down sword or bayonet blade mounted with a locally made hilt, usually in silver. See Dagas de Plata. The South Americans could not make blades, but had the means to fashion handcrafted hilts, almost always from silver sheet.

Cheers
Chris

24th October 2006, 11:34 AM	#5
Chris Evans Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 685	Hi Ian, That is not a facon, at least in the nowadays regionally and commonly accepted sense of the word (facon simply means large knife). It looks like some mid to late 19th century Euro dagger, of probably military provenace. What these days is called a facon is some kind of cut down sword or bayonet blade mounted with a locally made hilt, usually in silver. See Dagas de Plata. The South Americans could not make blades, but had the means to fashion handcrafted hilts, almost always from silver sheet. Cheers Chris Last edited by Chris Evans; 24th October 2006 at 12:25 PM.