Unusual African knife or short sword

[Ian]

Interesting piece. Excellent suggestion Wayne. Gutta percha originally came from Malaya and was introduced into Britain in the early 1840s. Sudan was also linked to Britain in the mid-19th C, so there may be a connection there for introduction of a British domestic knife with gutta percha scales into the region. There is a possibility that the scales might also be bakelite (a later synthetic resin/plastic), but they look unusually dark for bakelite.

Originally Posted by kronckew

The grip scales look like they could be cast/moulded in Gutta-percha, a tree resin frequently used for such and made impressing designs like that possible. I doubt you could do that in horn. It was used extensively from the 1840's thru the early 20th Century. It is still used for human dentistry, as an inert and safe filler for the void left by a root canal procedure.

See Antique Gutta Percha Handles

[kronckew]

Gutta-percha can vary in colour from yellow through brown so dark as to appear black. It can also have other colourants added. It can also be given a wood grain streaky look. It is thermoplastic. Hardeners like zinc oxide can be added, but it can crumble with age in the harder forms. The natural forms like hard leather are quite stable and somewhat flexible...

It was the start of the plastics age we tend to associate with the 2nd half of the 20th c. -but actually started 100 odd years before that. One of its first heavy commercial uses was to insulate transatlantic cable wires in the 1870's. It came ashore in Porthcurno, Cornwall, 224miles south-south-west of where I live.