Origin of this knife?

[katana]

Originally Posted by not2sharp

Rafeal tells us that there are many different Spanish made versions of these knives and that they are generally catagorized as "hispanoarabes" (spanish arabic) by spanish collectors.

I am certain that I have seen a similar knife categorised as 'Moroccan', a hop. skip and a jump from Spain. (Possibly a trade knife?) Conversely, many areas of Southern Spain are steeped in Moorish history, could these knives have been manufactured for their Arab brethren ?
Certainly the Med. has been a hot-bed for trading for thousands of years, so the idea of cultures copying designs of knives goes without saying.
Is there a scabbard?

[BSMStar]

I am probably off base, but I cannot help but to see some similarities to the blade of a Kindjal...

[eftihis]

Hi,
The blade on this kindjal is new! It is a reproduction and it is not tempered. Yes, there are straight lines similar, but the similarities stop there.

[BSMStar]

As I have stated, I am probably off base...

I know the Kindjal pictured is "new" piece and I am not making a comparison for age sake. I was looking at the shape of the blade... the "V" towards the tip of the blade. The oddity of your blade is the hilt location and the cutting edges of the blade. It is a bit like taking a "broken near the hilt" older Kindjal type blade and rehilting off center. Is the "back" of the blade wide or narrow?

These are just some observations of the ignorant.

A very nice and interesting piece!

[Marc]

Ok, my go at it, knives, and specially of such a late date, being a bit off my speciality...

The shape and decoration screams Spanish, Albacete, 19th. C, maybe even late 18th. Such fullers on the blade of these are not unusual, by the way.
Things that put me off: the Albacete knives had their metallic parts (aside from the blade, of course) made of brass/bronze, not silver, which is material more usually found in, for example, the South American "cuchillos criollos" ("Criollo" knives, sometimes also called "gaucho" knives). Also, the pommels, when present, tend to be smaller.
In short, it could be a variation, particularly rich, of an Albacete knife. My bets would surely go in this direction. If it would happen to be a "colonial" variation, improbable as I believe it to be, I wouldn't be surprised, tough.

My two euro cents...


Marc

[fernando]

HI Rob T
You might try this aproach.
A Venenoza, correctly spelled A Venenosa, meaning The Poisonous ( Venomous ) One. Not a knife mark, but one of these popular phrases usually seen on blades. The z sounds the same as the s, and was used in an earlier period. The term is the same in spanish, but maybe the z letter apoints to old fashion Portuguese from Brazil or Brasil.
Just a hint.
fernando

[fernando]

Forgive me, for i am an ignaro. Do i see any relation between these three and the knife questioned by Eftihis , plus all that was shown and said in the periphery?
The top one is surely brazilian, as it holds the sellers name and adress.
The center one, with a scabbard like the one in Oriental Arms, has a blade engraving " ENFIN " ( french for "at last" ), which diverts my guessing on its origin.
The bottom one, with a hilt mount again similar to the one pictured and described in Oriental Arms, is also a mistery for me.
I hope to learn further data on them, at following this thread.
Thanks
fernando