Chilean Corvo knives

[Ian]

This is what I have been able to glean from the few sources available.

First, a note on the name corvo. There is some belief that this is linked to the Portuguese name for a crow. I have found no credence for this attribution among those familiar with this knife. It appears that the name derives simply from the adjective, corvo, meaning curved. A fellow forumite from Spain, Marc, also noted this in an old thread.

The corvo seems to have made its first appearance in Chile around 1700 and is thought to have derived from a small sickle used as an agricultural tool and introduced by the Spanish. As a tool it had no guard and was sharpened only on the concave edge. Over time it became a standard tool of miners and agricultural workers where it was used as a pick as well as to cut vegetation and wood.

At some point it became the weapon of the working man, often used in combination with a parrying device in the other hand--a stick or perhaps cloth or cape wrapped around the arm. The corvo came to be a much feared weapon in the hands of skilled fighters, often leading to horrific injuries and fatalities.

In 1848 there was a substantial influx of Chileans into California associated with the discovery of gold. Why the Chileans (known as the "48ers") were among the first to invade the Californian goldfields is an interesting story (http://historicaltextarchive.com/sec...read&artid=257). Reference is made to the use of the corvo as a mining tool during that period.

Military use of the corvo is well documented in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). It is unclear whether the corvo was military issue or whether the soldiers simply brought their own knives with them (every working man had his own from adolescence). It was in this war that the terrible injuries and fatalities caused by the corvo were described and condemned by Peruvians and Bolivians who were on the wrong end of these weapons.

I have not been able to establish whether the corvo continued to be used by the military in the remaining 19th C and first half of the 20th C, but in 1971 the Chilean government started manufacturing the corvo for military issue. These were made by FAMAE and production continued until 2000. Two double-edged models with guards were made: a prominently hooked model with a 90 degree curve to its tip (sometimes called the corvo cuervo), and a less curved version (sometimes called the corvo atacameno). The former were used by officers and special forces units, the latter by other ranks.

Civilian corvos underwent changes during the 20th C. also. The traditional single-edged knife was adapted to a double-edged weapon, probably some time in the first half of the 20th C., although single-edged versions still seem to have been made as well. The hilts of these knives became fancier, with more intricate stacked hilts becoming fashionable, and civilian versions sometimes had guards added to them (presumably to enhance their fighting usefulness). Inlaid work on the blades is unusual, and can be found on older versions as well as those of the 20th C.

This is a very sketchy history of the national knife of Chile, and consists of a lot of words without pictures. I will post a series of pictures from my files over the next day or so to illustrate the points made above.

I hope others can fill in many of the blanks about these knives and answer the interesting questions Jim has posed.

Ian.

[kronckew]

it is of course a so. american version of an old friend, the double edged jambiyah/koummiyah/shabriyah, whose use of the pint down, inner curve we discussed recently on another forum.

[Ian]

Wayne:

There are obvious similarities between the modern corvo and the jambiya.

However, the development of the corvo appears to be quite separate and uninfluenced by the jambiya style of weapon. The corvo started out as a single-edged, sickle knife and tool. From there it evolved to a weapon (sharp on the concave edge only) and eventually a double-edged weapon.

A number of years ago we had an extensive debate about a possible Arab/African origin for the corvo and concluded there was no evidence for such a link or association, rather a similar end point but from different origins.

Ian.

[kronckew]

parallel evolution in action

there was also the single edged sica, used by roman gladiators & the sicarius of palestine & elsewhere.

[Ian]

Here is a clearly documented 19th C. corvo. The officer pictured is Sub-Lieutenant José L. Herrera and the picture was taken in Antofagasta on February 20, 1879 (very early in the Pacific War just after the seizure of Antofagasta by Chile). Note the bolster on the hilt and absence of a guard. This was a civilian knife taken to war.

[Ian]

Examples of 19th C. corvo. Note the "Spanish notch" on the blade of the silver handled one, the one below it, and two in the bottom picture--I have not seen this feature on 20th C pieces.

[Ian]

Early to mid-20th C. corvo


Examples elsewhere on this site:

http://www.vikingsword.com/i3/e1526a.jpg

http://www.vikingsword.com/i3/e1526b.jpg

http://www.vikingsword.com/i3/e1526d.jpg

http://www.vikingsword.com/i3/e1526c.jpg


Other examples:

[Ian]

Military corvo.