Item Description
Original Item: Only One Item Available. This is a very nice example of an Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Officers M1883 Dress / Parade Dirk, complete with its brass-mounted leather scabbard. As with Naval Dirks in Europe, they were given to officers when they were first commissioned, and were not intended to be any type of functional weapon. They began to be issued starting in the 1880s, and their use continued until the end of WWII.
In design, it is similar to a small Japanese Tanto, but of much lesser quality. The hilt is an ornate cast copper or bronze example, with very nice pebbling on the pommel and collar. It has a very nice faux stingray skin (same) grip, with the original brass wire binding almost fully intact. The pommel is somewhat loose on the blade, due to shrinking over the years. The blade is nickel plated, and doe show some loss of the plating and wear. There is also an "s" bend at the tip, so it looks like the dirk was dropped on the point or used to open a can or something at some point in the distant past.
The scabbard (saya) is metal mounted leather, with the same cherry-blossom motifs and pebbling as seen on the grip mounts. The throat fitting on this example is gilt iron, while the drag is gilt brass. Both fittings show wear to the finish and oxidation of the base metal, with a good amount of rust on the throat. The brown leather body is in very good shape, showing wear commensurate with age.
A hard to find WWII Japanese dagger, ready to add to your collection!
Measurements:
Blade Length: 8 1/4 inches
Handle Length: 4 inches
Total Length: 12 1/2 inches
Sheath Length: 12 inches
Total Length in Scabbard: 16 3/8 inches
- This product is available for international shipping.
- Eligible for all payments - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Paypal & Sezzle
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