A North Vietnamese fighting knife

Nguyen Dynasty era. Typical Vietnamese style.
These knifes have different types of blades, mostly wide and thin, this example has additional engravings on the blade. Later on these weapons were used by many  Chinese and Vietnamese criminals and rebels.

Vietnam, circa 1860-1880

Materials: Bronze, Steel, Horn

Status: SOLD

Description

A fine Vietnamese fighting knife with wide blade. The handle is made of buffaloo horn and carved to give it more grip. The blade is revited on the bronze faceted pommel. The guard is decorated with a filed motif, but the front and back are flat. The blade is straight, short but quite heavy. The tip ends in typical Chinese style as can be seen on Double swords (Hudiedao).

The decoration engraved on the blade is typical for Vietnamese workshops and similar motifs can be seen on other weapons from this period as well. On the forte a mark is visable which can be most likely refered to  ”本” meaning “Ben”.

A Southern Chinese fighting knife
A ”本” character on the blade.

See also Southern Chinese arms here.

Condition: Very good, some minor old rust stains, but further sharp and steady.

Dimensions:
Handle: 10.5cm
Blade: 24.9cm
Total length: 35.2cm

A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife

A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife

A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife

A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife A Northern Vietnamese fighting knife

Copyright by Peter Andeweg – 2020

 

 

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