Dagger ID Needed

[Atlantia]

What a nice piece Robert!

First thought was that it reminded me of the Hudiedao (have a look at Gavs impressive selection).
The scabbard is really familiar and I'm sure I've seen something similar... somewhere.......
As Tim noted, the 'thimbles' are kind of distinctive. Iron with a brass band? I've not seen ones like that before. I'd say they are a good clue for identifying the place of manufacture (thimbles are quite collectable, must be a forum somewhere).
Then the handle shape looks Phillipine....
How about a fusion piece? Many Chinese immigrants worked in the clothing trade?

I absolutely love it though! It looks very well made. An extremely interesting piece.

Gene

[Gavin Nugent]

Nice looking knife,
All guess work but I would say distinctly Philippine by form, most possibly made by one one the many Chinese traders in the regions during the Spanish occupation of the late 1800s as the guard does has a Chinese feel too it (see some of Josh's old blades too)....though I can't quite pick it, I have seen that guard somewhere before.... the blade most likely a reprofiled Spanish court sword.
I would be interested to know what you gleam from handling it when it arrives.

Gav

[CourseEight]

I believe this is thread Tim is referring to. I can certainly see similarities.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=bollock

[Rick]

I tend to agree with Gav.; the scabbard tip looks very Philippine to me .
The use of thimbles for ferrule and pommel cap would indicate scrounged parts typical of village work .

My .02

[Robert]

My thanks to everyone who have responded to this thread so far. I was hoping that this might be from the Philippines. The scabbard end as well as the grip as stated do have a distinct Philippine flair to them but my memory (not being what it was just a few years ago) tends to lead me on flights of fancy at times so I wanted some opinions before making any rash statements on its possible origin. I have sent in requests to a few people who collect thimbles in hopes of getting an idea of their age and origin as suggested by Gene. Further opinions or comments on this dagger would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all again.

Robert

[Jim McDougall]

I would go with Gav on this......very much Philippines, and the faceted grip is similar to a number of weapons I've seen in essentially a espada ancha type hilt. This is however more in the form of a plug bayonet, a weapon that remained in use in form much longer than often realized in the Spanish cultural sphere. Since Chinese influence distinctly prevailed in these regions as Gav has astutely noted, the alternating quillon guard of the dual 'butterfly' fighting knives seems reflective in styling.
Good points Rick on the thimble potential!! Recycling at work

All best regards,
Jim

[Robert]

Hello,
Again I would like to thank everyone who has responded to this thread. Here is what I have found out so far. I've heard back from two of the experts on thimbles that I contacted to get more information on the ones used on this dagger. They both agree that the thimbles date from the late 1700s to about 1850. So if the thimbles were new when used the dagger could have been made anywhere from the late 1700s to around 1850 or even later depending on the supply of "new old stock thimbles" laying around. Of coarse at the same time if they were not new it could have been made anywhere from the late 1700s onward. Getting the dating of these items was interesting and fun but as it turns out with such a wide range of manufacture that it is not of much help on dating this piece. My next question is who do you think would have owned a dagger like this a Spanish soldier or colonist, a Chinese traders or a Filipino? Thanks again.

Robert

P.S.
One other thing I find odd about this dagger are the five ///// hash marks that are found on only one flat of the grip, any ideas?