North African knife
 

Hello.

I recently acquired this knife. I strongly feel that it is North African, Algerian maybe? There is no scabbard, the blade came covered with some old deteriorated varnish, probably damar or something similar. Where it is not damaged, the blade is still very sharp.

Not so sure about the bone handle - kettle, maybe?

Also, no idea about the time when this item was made.

Comments and some more information will be highly appreciated and very useful.

thank you, in advance

Hi,
almost certainly a re-hilted khodmi from algeria's bou sadi region. Likely a tourist example.

Regards David

Thank you.

I notice that, apart from being used and still sharp, the blade is a little longer than other knives from that area. Is this lenght common? And is re-hilting also a common practice? I can imagine that in this case it would be for selling purposes.

thanks, again

Hi SLS,

As David says, it's a khodmi.
The decoration on the hilt is consistent with the decoration on later examples and the wire binding is usual also. Which just leaves the unusual shape. Possibly made that way for some reason, even if just to look a bit 'different' to those who travel looking for an interesting take-home.

Might also be a 'local' rehilt for some reason?
An anomaly! Interesting.

Best
Gene

Hello and thanks for the feedback.
I did some research on the forum and found this http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=khodmi .
The handle looks little bit similar, in terms of shape. Anyway, interesting remark about decoration. So, earlier blades were not that decorated? And was this kind of knife used also like a dagger (thus, the dagger-like form)? I guess there are many possible answers...

thanks again

Hi SLS,

The (straight hilted) ones I've had with similar deocration I'd have guessed were 1950's onwards.
The one you found in the archive seems to follow the same hilt form so I'd guess that these are a specific 'sub type' and are made that way for some reason or to appeal to specific people.

Nice. :)
All the best
Gene

Thank you a lot.

Now, it seems more clear.
Anyway, they were doing good blades back then.

S.L.