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#1 |
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 116
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Hello all, I have been cultivating an interest in these one edged daggers from Old Mexico. There have been some great examples found archaeologically, and by accident, and some have survived the years in collections. Does anyone know any good sources of information about these? Aside from references that they are sometimes locally made descendants of Mediterranean dirks, information is hard to find. I would love to see some detailed drawings that illustrate assembly, detail, etc.
I actually first became interested in these because they have been found all over the old Spanish, later Mexican holdings in N. America, and because that includes Texas and Arkansas, some believe that they are a direct ancestor to the Bowie knife, particularly as they have a clipped point. |
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#2 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,885
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Outstanding example of these sturdy Spanish colonial items. These utility knives, like most such items on the frontiers of New Spain, served as utility implements or as weapons as needed.
According to Simmons & Turley (198, p.130) these 'peasant knives' (also termed belduque) were essentially belt knives thrust into the sash. These were indeed distinctly related to the Meditteranean dirk, and in that sense have a degree of relationship to the original Bowie knife. We remain unclear on the exact or true nature of Jim Bowie's actual 'iron mistress', as it was of course lost at the Alamo...but it is generally held to have derived from the Mediteranean type knives familiar to the Bowie brothers in their knife fighting in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Spanish peasant knife, also termed cuchillo de cintura, had the distinctive grooved neck stemming from the blade heel, groove or fuller from decorative panel to point. Most blades seem larger, Brickerhoff and Chamberlain (1972) show two examples; 13.5" and 11.5" with both examples from New Mexico and Mexico (plates 216, 217). The hilts grip of wood or horn, three rivets through tang, swell toward butt and rounded or domed pommel. These were the knife counterparts of the venerable espada ancha, the machete like hanger used by civilian horsemen and the Soldados de Cuera cavalry in the Presidios. The chiseled decoration on these 'belduque' are very much like the frontier made espada ancha blades have, often inlaid or beautifully inscribed. "Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America 1700-1821" Brinckerhoff & Chamberlain, 1972 Southwestern Colonial Ironwork" Marc Simmons & Frank Turley, 1980 * this is by far the most comprehensive detail on these " Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World" Harold L Peterson , 1958 pp.63-65 The hilt was |
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#3 |
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Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 116
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Excellent. I am trying to get "Spanish Military Weapons" via interlibrary loan, as it is very costly. I will seek out the others. Although I have only seen a few examples, they all seem to have quite attractive decoration.
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#4 |
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 116
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Also, I am trying to figure out from not very good photos/drawings what the geometry of the blade is all about. It seems to be fairly complex smithy work for peasant craftsmen.
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#5 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,885
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As you have noted however, the 'clipped back' or false edge is a feature typically more ascribed to a fighting weapon, and as these were like most others of the time, multipurpose, that would be a key factor. Contact me by PM maybe I can help further. |
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