Keep in mind that French Ivory is bakelite or plastic.
Absolutely. Real ivory, real silver mounts,-- I'd expect to pay a bit more than 300 bucks. To me it has all the hallmarks of being something other than purported or implied. That said, I do like the quasi-art nouveau style embossing and etching on the sheath and scabbard. The fact that this isn't carried over onto the hilt not only detracts from the piece, it makes it slightly suspect.
My guess would be that it is fairly recent (within the last 10 years) because of the use of stainless steel, something I wouldn't associate with a dirk from the 1920s. It is harder to pass judgement on the engraving without examining the piece up close, but I'm guessing that stylistically it may be Indian (or possibly Pakistani). As for the carved hilt, if it's from the sub-continent I'd suspect that it might be camel bone-- but then plastic is always a good alternative!
For my money I'd rather have $300 worth of antique sgian dubh.
Last edited by MacMillan of Rathdown; 22nd January 09 at 04:19 PM.
My guess would be that it is fairly recent (within the last 10 years) because of the use of stainless steel, something I wouldn't associate with a dirk from the 1920s.
I'm not sure its stainless steel.. But stainless steel was sometimes used in the 1920s and 1930s in jewelry as something "high tech". Art Deco industrial design often favored stainless steel.
Keep in mind that French Ivory is bakelite or plastic.
Its not Bakelite. Phenolic plastics are not white. Faux Ivories are typically Casein or Celluloid. Looking at that "dirk" I'd suspect looking at the item that it was a more common Casein plastic and the fitting, if silver, then "German silver" (a nickel/copper/zinc alloy without any silver).. maybe thin silver plate. In its day it was not a terribly valuable piece but in todays market I have absolutely no idea.. While some pre-WW-II plastics have seen their market prices skyrocket over the past 20 years I don't think this kind of costume jewelry has.. I'd guess that the item was not worth much but someone did pay $300 USD so what do I know.. and perhaps they knew sometime that even the seller did not..
Originally Posted by ThistleDown
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