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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 16
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Any idea of what this bronze dagger might be? I have never seen anything like it. ![]() The owner thinks it is extremely old (1,000 years) but I have no idea. Another question, language is cast into it? Thanks, Greg |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Istanbul
Posts: 452
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I dont think bronze was still a material used 1000 years ago by bladesmiths. it had been many decades since the development of much cheaper and stronger iron technology (1000s B.C. perhaps lets say 500 years later in China). So it must be at least 2500 yrs old if original. And it seems too new for that age to me. Not patinated at all, and details fresh . they should have become a bit or more erroded depending on the composition of the soil it has rested in till it was found. Too many Chinese bronze fakes are sold on internet and I am afraid this one seems very much like one of them.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 16
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The owner says it came home from WWII in a G.I. footlocker, which may indicate that it's at least a 60 year old copy of..... what ? . Good point about the extent of oxidation, etc.
Anyway, is the writing on this item an early form of Chinese? Thanks, Greg |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 655
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My guess would be more african ? May be an imitation of ancient egyptian daggers ? The "language" seems like a collection of pictogramms, but they look obviously non-egyptian, so it can be an imitation ?
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#5 |
Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 210
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The owner says it came home from WWII in a G.I. footlocker, which may indicate that it's at least a 60 year old copy of..... what ?
It implies that, but he didn't actually say that. If I have a footlooker and throw something in it, does that make it 60 years old? Chinese antiques are notoriously faked. If you found an intact 2500-3500 year old object; would you toss it in a locker and forget about it? The real ones are usually found in official dig and very well documented. This is not the kind of thing that survives unless it is preserved in a very secure location (like a tomb). From the pictures I would be bothered by the abondance of sharp straight lines; nature hates a straight line and will always do its best to wear it away. n2s |
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#6 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
Posts: 4,141
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Greg:
I'm unclear whether you believe this is a solid bronze dagger or just the hilt is bronze. It is dificult to tell from the pictures, but the blade is definitely a different color, with staining and mild corrosion, and I believe I can see evidence of lamination. That would make the blade steel rather than bronze, would it not? A steel blade with a bronze hilt suggests something different from what we have been discussing. Ian. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: What is still UK
Posts: 5,772
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I am wiling to bet that this is, how shall I put it, a recent Chinese decorative reproduction of Shang or Zhou dynasty, centuries BC anyway, bronze weapon. Ebay is full of them. A real one would boost your pension fund just a little. Tim
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#8 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,247
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I'm with Tim on this one. Those characters look like some version of Chinese, not African characters (hieroglpyhs?)
More importantly, the truly fresh-minted condition of a weapon that (if genuine) would be, oh, 2,000 years old or so, kinda makes me think that it's a bit more recent. It might well have been found in an expedition to EBay country, for instance. F |
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#9 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,187
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This is Chinese with copied ancient Chinese script. Ancient Chinese script was more pictographic in nature because it came from pictographs.
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#10 | |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Europe
Posts: 2,718
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Singapore
Posts: 1,180
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The characters could approximate some ancient Chinese script, but I have a feeling they are just gibberish. Some of the characters just look out of place, like the "hourglass" character.
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