Dirk?

Jim McDougall · 30th January 2008, 01:31 AM

You're very welcome Rob, very nice piece that appears to have some quite interesting historical possibilities. As I noted in my post, Mark's assessment was pretty much right on target as near as I can tell, and he has focused on these types of weapons for some time. The Gilkerson book is great as it is one of the first books addressing maritime weapons that extends as far as not only American weapons, but to the Civil War and later.

Prior to this book, the best book including American weapons earlier has always been G.Neumann "Swords and Blades of the American Revolution".

All best regards,
Jim

M ELEY · 30th January 2008, 02:33 AM

Jim, thanks for the kind words and welcome! It's good to be back (I did pop in from time to time, though). Excellent observation on the bone/ivory hilt. Of course this feature bears mentioning or, although it doesn't absolutely establish naval use, it is an extremely common feature to these dirks. Rob, don't be upset if it does turn out to be bone and not ivory. This material is far more likely to be what the average Confederate would have been able to get hi hands on. The crossguard/fennials bothered me at first with their slightly modern "sink knob" look. Then I remembered seeing a British piece with a rather ridiculous-looking crosspiece resembling flattened spoons! Here's a French piece, I think you'll see the similarities to yours -
www.antiqueswords.com/fnd1.htm
So...I stick by my (our) assessment. Rob, you can also check out Naval Swords by P.G.W. Annis ( 8 examples/pics of earlier styles, but same patterns), Naval Swords and Firearms by May/National Maritime Museum press and Navies of the American Revolution by Preston,Lyon, and Batchelor. Gilkerson's book, as Jim suggested, is an excellent resource.

30th January 2008, 01:31 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,459	You're very welcome Rob, very nice piece that appears to have some quite interesting historical possibilities. As I noted in my post, Mark's assessment was pretty much right on target as near as I can tell, and he has focused on these types of weapons for some time. The Gilkerson book is great as it is one of the first books addressing maritime weapons that extends as far as not only American weapons, but to the Civil War and later. Prior to this book, the best book including American weapons earlier has always been G.Neumann "Swords and Blades of the American Revolution". All best regards, Jim

30th January 2008, 02:33 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,184	Jim, thanks for the kind words and welcome! It's good to be back (I did pop in from time to time, though). Excellent observation on the bone/ivory hilt. Of course this feature bears mentioning or, although it doesn't absolutely establish naval use, it is an extremely common feature to these dirks. Rob, don't be upset if it does turn out to be bone and not ivory. This material is far more likely to be what the average Confederate would have been able to get hi hands on. The crossguard/fennials bothered me at first with their slightly modern "sink knob" look. Then I remembered seeing a British piece with a rather ridiculous-looking crosspiece resembling flattened spoons! Here's a French piece, I think you'll see the similarities to yours - www.antiqueswords.com/fnd1.htm So...I stick by my (our) assessment. Rob, you can also check out Naval Swords by P.G.W. Annis ( 8 examples/pics of earlier styles, but same patterns), Naval Swords and Firearms by May/National Maritime Museum press and Navies of the American Revolution by Preston,Lyon, and Batchelor. Gilkerson's book, as Jim suggested, is an excellent resource.