Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > European Armoury
FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 20th January 2017, 08:54 PM   #1
thinreadline
Member
 
thinreadline's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Wirral
Posts: 1,204
Default Gunner's Stiletto

This turned up today in a small collection of Victorian swords ... it is totally out of my experience. Is this a reproduction ? Total length 34 cm , blade length 21 cm . Weight 215 g. Although the blade is graduated along one face, there are no numbers . It looks old but I dont know. Opinions welcomed.
Attached Images
   
thinreadline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21st January 2017, 03:45 AM   #2
CSinTX
Member
 
CSinTX's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 233
Default

Guard looks modern to me for sure. Grip probably modern. Blade might be older but hard to see for sure. The Brass ring probably added as a means to make it all work together.
CSinTX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21st January 2017, 08:53 AM   #3
thinreadline
Member
 
thinreadline's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Wirral
Posts: 1,204
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by CSinTX
Guard looks modern to me for sure. Grip probably modern. Blade might be older but hard to see for sure. The Brass ring probably added as a means to make it all work together.
Thanks, much as I suspected , I appreciate your opinion .
thinreadline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22nd January 2017, 03:41 AM   #4
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
Jim McDougall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,937
Default

I agree that this is of course a reproduction, and of the stilettos of the 17th-18th c. which were used by 'bombardiers' , the artillery gunners in Italy. In rechecking old discussions in these pages, the key article on these seems to be "Gunners Daggers" by Marcelo Terezi, Arms and Armor Annual, ed. Robert Held, 1973.

Interesting representation and the lines scribed on the blade recall the graduated scale on the original daggers which often had mysterious numerics on the lines. The scale seems to have numbered 1 to 120, thus these were often termed in Italy, un centoventi. While often thought for measuring powder charge, they were actually for determining bore and ammunition size.

These spike blade daggers, while ideal for use in 'spiking' a gun to render it unserviceable if required in case of abandoning an emplacement, were also favored by assassins in 'other' uses. When such weapons as stilettos were
outlawed in Italy in 1661, often such daggers were inscribed with spurious markings as only 'gunners' were allowed these weapons.

They fell out of use after first part of 18th c.
Jim McDougall is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:13 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.