Item Description
Original Item: Only One Item Available. This is a 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. This example appears to be missing the pommel piece.
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 collar. It has a very nice faux stingray skin (same) grip, with the original brass wire binding almost fully intact. The pommel piece is gone, and just shows the bare rayskin with an uncovered bottom. The blade is nickel plated, and does show some loss of the plating and wear. The tip is in good order.
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. One of the suspension rings actually retains its hanger with a fragment of the leather strap, the first time we’ve seen this.
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
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