German ? hunting dagger for ID

[Cerjak]

It is my first hunting dagger ,simple edge
Over all 53 cm blade 43 cm. no marks visible
It looks to be in excavation condition.
I would like to know how old it could be
Any comment on it will be welcome.

[kronckew]

looks like it's been fairly aggressively cleaned & polished a bit. makes it harder to tell the age. at least they didn't use an angle grinder. no markings or distinctive decorative features other than the plain shell doesn't help either. decent wear & patina on the grip antler, could be anywhere from a few decades to a few hundred years old.

[Cerjak]

one more pic

[Fernando K]

Hello, Cerjak

In the catalog Carl Eickhorn - Solingen, 1927, there is a very similar hunting knife with antler handle and deer and the shell, leaf 32mm wide (number 174 in the catalog) black leather sheath "montadura polished steel ".

Tomorrow I'll upload a photo, because I have no scanner

Affectionately. Fernando

[M ELEY]

Very nice piece! Although not technically a hanger, still classified as a hirshfanger, I would imagine. Judging from the simplicity of the crossguard and style, I'd wager 1750-1800. There were earlier types like this in trousses, likewise similar types into the 19th c, but I feel confortable with the dates I presented...until someone else comes along and proves me wrong!

[Cerjak]

Hello Fernando K and M ELEY

Thank you for your comment.
The shell is 45 mm * 35 mm and the blade 32 mm wide.
Best

Cerjak

[fernando]

Doesn't it look like a military bayonet blade ?
... Mounted in the German style, with the scallop shell langet ?
Sorry if i am talking nonsense .

[Roland_M]

Hello,

a nice hunting dagger (German: Hirschfänger, or deer catcher) from Germany or Austria.

I would say 18th to mid 19th century and a piece of a nobleman or forester.


Here is a similar dagger from Austria:
"http://www.beck-militaria.de/Blankwaffen/Deutschland/Saebel-Degen/Oesterreich-Hirschfaenger-eines-Edlen-oder-hoeheren-Forstbeamten::9916.html"

[CSinTX]

Originally Posted by fernando

Doesn't it look like a military bayonet blade ?
... Mounted in the German style, with the scallop shell langet ?
Sorry if i am talking nonsense .

I know nothing of German hunting items but my first thought when I saw this was that the blade looked to be profiled exactly like a bayonet blade. It also looks slightly offset in some of the pictures. If it is, then maybe a bayonet expert will recognize it. Like Fernando says, this could be nonsense though.

[Fernando K]

Greetings . Fernando K

[Cerjak]

Thank you all for your opinion I will continue to trying to find a picture for a similar example.
Best

Cerjak

[broadaxe]

Originally Posted by fernando

Doesn't it look like a military bayonet blade ?
... Mounted in the German style, with the scallop shell langet ?
Sorry if i am talking nonsense .

No nonsence at all: this was quite common during the early 20th century, and they are still being produced today.