I AM 77 YEARS OLD AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE FACINATING MOMENTS IN COLLECTING. I HOPE THE FOLLOWING WILL HELP THE NEWER COLLECTORS WITH SOME IDEAS THAT TURN THE HOBBY INTO PLEASURE AND EXCITEMENT OF THE DIFFERENT PIECES YOU COME ACROSS. THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT A MAGNIFICENT HUNTING DAGGER AND ALL THAT HAS UNFOLDED ABOUT IT SO FAR…
There are four different daggers shown in this group.
The first is a picture of one that was in HERMANNS AUCTION in 2003. You may notice it has a Jager blade and is dated 23, April 1901. It did not have a scabbard. decipher the German It has a W.K.C.blade. The price asked was 1000-euro dollars. It did not sell at that auction but it did sell at their next auction and I do not have the price available.

Dagger #2
THIS DAGGER IS ONE THAT I PURCHASED AT THE PITTSBURGH MAX SHOW IN 2004.
It does not have a makers name and the blade is etched with a standard hunting etching on both sides and it did come with a scabbard. The grip area is beautiful and I do not know the composition of the material on it.

Dagger #2a

Dagger #2b

Dagger #3
THIS DAGGER JUST SOLD AT THE HERMAN AUCTON AND I HAVE COPIED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FROM THEIR SALES PAGE.

Lot Nr.6459A magnificent hunting hanger, presented by King Albert of Saxony, dated 1901. Single-edged blade of watered steel with yelmen. The root of the blade bears an etched and gilded Saxon coat of arms and the date, "23. April 1901"in a Jugendstil cartouche. The manufacturer's inscription, "W.K. & C, Solingen" is etched on the ricasso, and "Hast & Uhthoff Dresden" on the back of the blade. Gold plated knuckle guard hilt. Brass grip with mother-of-pearl inlays. The pommel has hunting scenes in relief and a sculpted stag's head. There is a mother-of-pearl plate on the pommel cap bearing the crowned cipher "A". It comes with a brown leather covered scabbard with gilded furniture. The scabbard contains a byknife with a Damascus blade and mother-of-pearl grip scales (one grip scale is sprung). The chape bears a sculpted boar. The frog hook shows the Saxon coat of arms in relief. The owner's name, "Arthur Lehmann" is engraved on the reverse side of the locket. Length 61.5 cm Rare presentation hunting weapon, which was given in small numbers on the occasion of the Saxon King's 73rd birthday. Condition: II+ Limit: 5000 EURO 14500 EURO

Dagger #3a
Live mid-market rates as of 2006.06.03 19:17:53 UTC.
1,450.00 EUREuro = $18,730.50 USDUnited States Dollars

. Commission charges are 20 % including V.A.T. The V.A.T. is not refundable. Payment is due immediately in cash and in Euro currency. = $936.52 plus $1,873.05 = $19,873.05 and if you use your credit card to pay add another 2.9% and then you have your shipping plus customs tax. So it is nice to see all the nice things in the auctions but know what is ahead of you price wise if you are the lucky bidder.
ROUGHLY..$19,873.05 U.S. DOLLARS

DAGGER #4
THE LAST DAGGER IS PRESENTLY ON EBAY. The starting bid is $7,950.00. It has even more detail than the other three daggers. It also has the etched presentation, which I would appreciate if someone would decipher. I see the word Jager on the blade but the blade is not a Jager blade as such that you see on two of the other daggers. It also states it has an early Carl Eickhorn trade mark. The stag handle gives it a extra strong look for a Jager presentation piece. What all you can read into these pieces as you come across them is really something. The crown cap on the top of the grip is like the frosting on the cake.
Ebay listing.....
KING LUDWIG OF SAXONY HUNTING CUTLASS SWORD Item number: 6634711294

That is about it for now. This is how I spent this Saturday afternoon trying to put this all together. All comments are appreciated. I enjoy the Forums and I can tell you the feed back helps keep it all going. It has been a great help to me and it has saved me a few dollars by all the articles I see posted on collecting.
Thank for looking.
Sincerely,
HUBERTUS

Thanks for your time posting these stunning
beauties!

Picture is outstanding!

This site has been very helpful!

PVON

Just on the piece that is on Ebay, only last year I saw a hunting dagger that had this exact same inscription on the blade with what was an obvious shabbily etched early Eickhorn trademark,(back to back squirrels) the hilt/grip assembly was totally different. I'm not saying the ebay piece is bad just that they are using that presentation etch in re-pro's now.
The piece that was just sold by Herman Historica was at the last Max show and was selling for $8000 if I remember correctly, a bit of a bargain if it had been bought then.
Ralph has made a great comparison, his hirschfänger that he owns is a real beauty and while not marked is for sure a WK&C, those scabbard fittings are a real giveaway, they used this shape fittings right through the later periods as well.


Gary

Ralph,

Many thanks for the great inspirational and informative post.

This is the first time I've seen these patterns in detail and believe me when I say it's a treat! Even the plain model would be a welcomed addition to any museum that specializes in fine arms and armor. The design is nothing short of an Art Nouveau masterpiece.

Best wishes!

Bill

The one on ebay caught my eye 1st because of the PRICE .. then noticed the crest. As i have a sword with the same one.

My Sword

I thought the crest only represented the province of Saxony. As i the other side on my sword had King Albert's monogram (i think).

Perhaps i should list it as King Albert's sword...

PS.
Gary, this came in with my "other sword" you saw at Bedford.

Hubertus, the inscription is as follows:
Das ist des Jägers Ehrenschild
Das er beschützt und hegt sein Wild.
transl.: It (or: this) is the hunter´s honor coat of arms / that he protects and preserves his game.
Don´t want to say anything about originality...

Ralph,

Stunning presentation....as always....I always enjoy seeing your 'stuff'....
Besyt regards,

Hey Guys, I have been looking at this one 6634711294, on ebay quite a number of times. While I am by no means an expert, the newness or white on bottom and top of the stag bother me. Good old stag seems to more often than not acquire a nice yellow or brown tone/patena. Houston, you have been quite on this piece. What is your opinion? James (Yager)

Oh, by the way Ralph, Nice, nice piece. Thanks for sharing and showing. My lucky week end in Phoenix this past week. Accidently located a wonderful Forestry tunic made by W. Michovius of Cottbus. Sholder boards and collar tabs of a Liet. I think.(double acorns)Has a nice 5pc WW1 bar over the pocket. Also comes with a visor cap, which I am still studying. Owner did not know what he had. I normally do not collect cloth items, but it was so nice and the price was right, so could not refuse. Pictures later when I get it home this weekend. James

I looked at the one that was at the MAX show. I saw nothing wrong with it at the time but it does bother me a bit that so many of these are appearing. Something this rare is usually only seen once or twice in a lifetime. If another one appears I will be really be wondering some more. It also bothers me that Wotan indicates there is some doubt here. The hilts are VERY fancy-perhaps a bit too much. Time will tell-The repro artists never make just one.

The green material in the grip of dagger #2 appears to be jade. Jade is found in two varieties; jadite and nephrite. Jadite is usually translucent and nephrite is opaque. This looks like nephrite to me. That being said there was a depression-era green glass known as jadite which it may also be, but it usually has more of a bluish tint than what is in the dagger grip.

I want to thank everyone for their input on the hunting daggers.
Wotan it is great to have someone available to give the language translations.
Skyline Drive… I appreciate the definitions of the types of Jade. I got out my magnification glasses to get a better look at it and while checking I thought there was a ding on back guard on the grip area. It turned out to be the number 835. It was also stamped on the clamshell and the cutlass guard. The numbers are in a 1/8th wide to less than a 1/16th high dot that looked like some kind of a blemish at first. Some of the smallest stamped numbers I have ever seen. The scabbard also has the number 4 stamped on the top and bottom guard areas.
Gary has always brought up the numbering on different pieces he has shown in the past. Maybe there is some thought here on this small numbering sequence he can give a hand on.
Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

Picture#4 Bottom right side of clamshell.

Are you sure those marks are numbers? Pic #2 looks like an imperial crown. Pics 3 and 4 look sort of like Weimar eagles.