Belduque from Spanish Mexico

Jim McDougall · 9th April 2015, 04:22 AM

Outstanding example of these sturdy Spanish colonial items. These utility knives, like most such items on the frontiers of New Spain, served as utility implements or as weapons as needed.
According to Simmons & Turley (198, p.130) these 'peasant knives' (also termed belduque) were essentially belt knives thrust into the sash. These were indeed distinctly related to the Meditteranean dirk, and in that sense have a degree of relationship to the original Bowie knife. We remain unclear on the exact or true nature of Jim Bowie's actual 'iron mistress', as it was of course lost at the Alamo...but it is generally held to have derived from the Mediteranean type knives familiar to the Bowie brothers in their knife fighting in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Spanish peasant knife, also termed cuchillo de cintura, had the distinctive grooved neck stemming from the blade heel, groove or fuller from decorative panel to point. Most blades seem larger, Brickerhoff and Chamberlain (1972) show two examples; 13.5" and 11.5" with both examples from New Mexico and Mexico (plates 216, 217).

The hilts grip of wood or horn, three rivets through tang, swell toward butt and rounded or domed pommel.

These were the knife counterparts of the venerable espada ancha, the machete like hanger used by civilian horsemen and the Soldados de Cuera cavalry in the Presidios. The chiseled decoration on these 'belduque' are very much like the frontier made espada ancha blades have, often inlaid or beautifully inscribed.

"Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America 1700-1821"
Brinckerhoff & Chamberlain, 1972

Southwestern Colonial Ironwork"
Marc Simmons & Frank Turley, 1980
* this is by far the most comprehensive detail on these

" Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World"
Harold L Peterson , 1958 pp.63-65
The hilt was

9th April 2015, 04:22 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	Outstanding example of these sturdy Spanish colonial items. These utility knives, like most such items on the frontiers of New Spain, served as utility implements or as weapons as needed. According to Simmons & Turley (198, p.130) these 'peasant knives' (also termed belduque) were essentially belt knives thrust into the sash. These were indeed distinctly related to the Meditteranean dirk, and in that sense have a degree of relationship to the original Bowie knife. We remain unclear on the exact or true nature of Jim Bowie's actual 'iron mistress', as it was of course lost at the Alamo...but it is generally held to have derived from the Mediteranean type knives familiar to the Bowie brothers in their knife fighting in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Spanish peasant knife, also termed cuchillo de cintura, had the distinctive grooved neck stemming from the blade heel, groove or fuller from decorative panel to point. Most blades seem larger, Brickerhoff and Chamberlain (1972) show two examples; 13.5" and 11.5" with both examples from New Mexico and Mexico (plates 216, 217). The hilts grip of wood or horn, three rivets through tang, swell toward butt and rounded or domed pommel. These were the knife counterparts of the venerable espada ancha, the machete like hanger used by civilian horsemen and the Soldados de Cuera cavalry in the Presidios. The chiseled decoration on these 'belduque' are very much like the frontier made espada ancha blades have, often inlaid or beautifully inscribed. "Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America 1700-1821" Brinckerhoff & Chamberlain, 1972 Southwestern Colonial Ironwork" Marc Simmons & Frank Turley, 1980 * this is by far the most comprehensive detail on these " Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World" Harold L Peterson , 1958 pp.63-65 The hilt was