African (?) knife

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by RobT

Hi All,

I think that Yvain's knife is very likely African. I found a website (http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?a...nife&ba-page=3) which shows a group of five daggers listed as Manding. The leftmost and center daggers in the set look so much like faca de ponta that frankly, if either dagger were to be accompanied by a characteristic fdp sheath, I don't think anyone would have too much problem seeing them as Brazilian fdp. The above website has other Manding examples that look a lot like fdp. The site also shows an actual fdp and says, "This is a Brazilian so-called Faca de Ponta, around 1900, you can see here the Spanish influence in Africa as well as in South America". It should also be noted that a huge portion of Brazil's population has African ancestry, much of it Manding.

Hello Rob,

When you look closely you can see the differences, especially where the handle meets the visible blade. Old facas also have a thick bolster, often with brass or german silver.
But for sure you can see the influence.
BTW, the shown faca on this site is the one mentioned above.

Best regards,
Detlef