African Dagger?

[Helleri]

Originally Posted by Robert

Johan, while I know little of nothing about the knife itself the leather covering the hilt was most likely made from the hide covering the tail of a cow. The hide would have been peeled off in one piece and tanned then stretched over the wooden hilt leaving no seem. If there is no seem in the scabbard either it was probably made using the same material stretched over a wooden core that would be removed after it dried and the tooling had been added. Any other information on this I will leave to those who know much more about this style of knife than I do.

Best,
Robert

As a leather worker I concur. Tails make excellent seamless scabbards and people have been using them for just that all over the world and all throughout history.

However with that comes a caution. It is more often than not (as in the vast majority of cases) that such scabbards are not tanned. Or at least not through-tanned. Which means it is effectively raw hide. So if the scabbard becomes exposed to moisture. It can rott, mold, and turn rancid... It's not pleasant.

I would suggest what ever box/drawer/display case it is kept in also have a desiccant. I might even suggest displaying it with the blade out of the scabbard and the scabbard packed with wool (a moisture wicking, insulating, and low odorous material).

[Johan van Zyl]

Iain and Pieje, you have convinced me that my knife originates from the general area you mentioned. And Helleri has added valuable observations concerning the leatherwork. I am very much obliged!

Johan

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

Iain and Pieje, you have convinced me that my knife originates from the general area you mentioned. And Helleri has added valuable observations concerning the leatherwork. I am very much obliged!

Johan

Not a problem, while I understand the desire to narrow down the attribution as much as possible, with fairly common and utilitarian items like this knife it can be hard to get something exact as the general form is found across a massive geographical area.