African (?) knife

[RobT]

Sajen & Ian,

Although the bolster/ricasso feature is found on faca de ponta more often than not, it is not always present as can be seen in the top three examples from my collection and therefore can't be considered a defining characteristic. My fourth example shows a faca with a ricasso but without a brass (or silver) overlay and thus matches the African examples on Wodimi's site. It is interesting to note that, in the three faca without a bolster/ricasso, a short, thick bolster integral with the blade serves as a tip for the hilt ferrule. My faca with the ricasso has a conical shaped integral bolster at the end of the ferrule. Examination (under bright light and magnification) of the other five faca in my collection (all of which have the bolster/ricasso feature) shows only one with a short, thick, integral bolster.
PS: The brass sheath for the third faca may or may not be original to the piece but it fits perfectly.

Sajen,
When I saw your post about Wodimi's excellent site, I immediately put it into my desktop favorites folder only to discover that it was already there from a previous search I had done about the very topic we are now discussing.

Sincerely,
RobT