Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

RobT · 22nd March 2005, 03:39 AM

I have collected these daggers for a number of years and had always thought that they came from the mediterranian area of north Africa. They looked to me to be a blend of southern European and north African design (sort of like a Canary island knife stretched out). I could never find any verification of origin however and now I know why. I should have been looking in that part of Africa that left the old world and headed west millions of years ago! Brazil, ho boy! To say I was a bit surprised is to put it mildly. I do have three questions however. 1) Was the dagger as it appears in this thread developed in the old world and carried to the new by Portuguese colonists or did it attain its final form in Brazil? 2) Demographically, who were the people that used the dagger? (A local car wash that I frequent is owned and operated by Brazilians. One of the men working there said the knife was used by Indians but I doubt this.) 3) How was the dagger carried? (That pen style clip doesn't seem very secure for external carry.) This last question might give a good indicator of the blade's intended use. If the sheath was designed for concealed carry, that fact and the lack of a sharp edge coupled with the formidable point speak in favor of a surprise thrust much in the fashion of a stilletto. I know that in my neck of the woods ice picks were used in this manner and they frequently had their handles shaved down for concealability. I don't think a cross guard would be needed because the base of the blade is deeper than the hilt so your hand would stop on that. Also, your fingers would find purchase in the swamped area just before the pommel. Does anyone know any Brazilian cops? If it was a weapon they would be able to tell us volumes about it. The only other thing I was able to find out at the car wash was that one of the women there said that her father gave her mother one of the daggers as a gift. This woman also said that they don't make the blades any more. One of my co-workers is also Portuguese and she said that she thought she had seen these knives but they were usually old and rusty and the hilts were usually broken.

22nd March 2005, 03:39 AM	#16
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 534	boy, was I surprised I have collected these daggers for a number of years and had always thought that they came from the mediterranian area of north Africa. They looked to me to be a blend of southern European and north African design (sort of like a Canary island knife stretched out). I could never find any verification of origin however and now I know why. I should have been looking in that part of Africa that left the old world and headed west millions of years ago! Brazil, ho boy! To say I was a bit surprised is to put it mildly. I do have three questions however. 1) Was the dagger as it appears in this thread developed in the old world and carried to the new by Portuguese colonists or did it attain its final form in Brazil? 2) Demographically, who were the people that used the dagger? (A local car wash that I frequent is owned and operated by Brazilians. One of the men working there said the knife was used by Indians but I doubt this.) 3) How was the dagger carried? (That pen style clip doesn't seem very secure for external carry.) This last question might give a good indicator of the blade's intended use. If the sheath was designed for concealed carry, that fact and the lack of a sharp edge coupled with the formidable point speak in favor of a surprise thrust much in the fashion of a stilletto. I know that in my neck of the woods ice picks were used in this manner and they frequently had their handles shaved down for concealability. I don't think a cross guard would be needed because the base of the blade is deeper than the hilt so your hand would stop on that. Also, your fingers would find purchase in the swamped area just before the pommel. Does anyone know any Brazilian cops? If it was a weapon they would be able to tell us volumes about it. The only other thing I was able to find out at the car wash was that one of the women there said that her father gave her mother one of the daggers as a gift. This woman also said that they don't make the blades any more. One of my co-workers is also Portuguese and she said that she thought she had seen these knives but they were usually old and rusty and the hilts were usually broken.