Greek? Knife
 

This little knife is not mine, but belongs to a friend who has some questions.

As you can see, the knife is in bad shape, with damage to both blade and hilt. It is a pity, because the blade is wootz.

The first question is about origin - we think it is Greek, but would love to hear your opinion.

The second question is about the hilt and closely follows the first - does anyone have a photo of a similar dagger, so that my friend can see how the hilt is supposed to end? Currently, the missing part at the end is made of wax, but my friend would to have it properly restored.

Thank you,

Teodor

Interesting piece. Certainly Greco-Balkan. May have had ears at the end.

Thanks Jose. I am also wondering if it had ears, but right now I doubt it - looking at the hilt from the top, it looks to be of uniform width, whereas hilts with ears are usually narrow close to the blade and gradually widen towards the pommel to allow space for the ears.

Maybe someone has a similar one, except in much better condition, and we will be able to see exactly how it should look like.

Teodor

Actually on Balkan pieces like this, the eared ones were often straight and then the ears came at the end, though not large.

It depends - in some cases, it is exactly the way you describe it, but in other cases, such as Bosnian and Cretan daggers, there is a very pronounced widening of the hilt. So there really is not a general rule about hilt geometry when looking from the top and the presence or absence of ears.

Thank you very much for your help Jose - I think I will advise my friend to wait and see if a similar example pops up somewhere, maybe even here. Without seeing a similar example with a complete hilt, there is a risk in restoring the pommel.

Regards,
Teodor