Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Chris Evans
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
|
Thanks Chris. You could be right. However, this knife was sold out of Buenos Aries as an antique knife (which it appears to be), and it has the characteristics that I associate with a
facón: long blade, guard, leather sheath with a seam running down the front. Agree, that the brass hilt is atypical but not unheard of on South American knives. Could be a military blade. But I'll bet an old gaucho would have loved it and called it his
facón if he had gotten his hands on it.
This knife is certainly a weapon, although it could be used for any purpose needing a sharp edge. And the gauchos used their
facónes for just about any chore they could be used.
Cheers,
Ian.