Cold Steel Naval Dirk: Origin of Design?

[kronckew]

early dirk: came in a variety of styles.


don't think cold steel ones are stamped, tho someone could etch or stamp afterwards.

the photo of the other side is also unstamped.

more standardised victorian dirks looked like this one, 1891 pattern. widely reproduced - may even still be in production. earlier one looked a lot like this (1879 pattern is nearly identical)

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by kronckew

early dirk: came in a variety of styles.


don't think cold steel ones are stamped, tho someone could etch or stamp afterwards.

more standardised victorian dirks looked like this one, 1891 pattern. widely reproduced - may even still be in production.

Hi Mate,
This one definately looks like the Cold Steel one. Wondered how to be sure its not a modern one aged up is all. No stamps of any kind on it that I could see. definately dark horn grips, never wire bound.
Hmmmm.
Not somewhere where I could really take pictures.

[Dmitry]

This what the dirk on the first photo is based upon, a popular form from the mid-1790s to ca.1810.
Sometimes there is 'cigar band' around the waist of the grip, which is engraved with a fouled anchor, which, understandably, adds a factor of desirability to collectors.
Both pieces are in my collection.

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

This what the dirk on the first photo is based upon, a popular form from the mid-1790s to ca.1810.
Sometimes there is 'cigar band' around the waist of the grip, which is engraved with a fouled anchor, which, understandably, adds a factor of desirability to collectors.
Both pieces are in my collection.

Thats a beauty Dmitry! (5 Ball to match the sword?)
Any with smooth horn grips that you know of?

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Thats a beauty Dmitry! (5 Ball to match the sword?)
Any with smooth horn grips that you know of?

Not horn, but ebony. Horn wasn't used much, if at all, by the English,for grips on their swords and dirks, at least during the Napoleonic period.
As a matter of fact, ebony-gripped dirks are rarer than the bone/ivory ones.

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

Not horn, but ebony. Horn wasn't used much, if at all, by the English,for grips on their swords and dirks, at least during the Napoleonic period.
As a matter of fact, ebony-gripped dirks are rarer than the bone/ivory ones.

Hi Dmitry,
Thanks for the help. Thats the thing, this definately had horn grips.
Hmmm.