Knife Questions

[sharpkid123]

Hi,
   My grandmother recently passed away and while cleaning out her apartment I found these two knives laying around. I believe their old and i have done research and it has came up empty. Hopefully someone on here knows a little about them. Thanks in advance!

[sharpkid123]

Anyone?

[bob535]

It looks Arabian (except for the sheath that has a knights helmet on it) in style to me. Are there any markings (words) on the blade itself? I can not tell from the pictures. It is a very nice knife though, I like it.

I am not saying that your knives are replicas, but I have seen some very nice replicas at local flea markets as well. I have one, and besides the fact that it was sold as a replica, I can tell because the the handle has seams on the sides as if it were two molded halves, and on the blade itself it says "Stainless China".

I am not a knife expert by any means (in fact i just had knife questions as well ) so this is just a thought.

[sharpkid123]

There are no markings apparent with out a magnifing glass

[mart]

Sometimes we have to do a bit of research before answering !! I have looked and found a few similar knives !! But not enough to give an opinion !! One thing that would help is to look at  the work on the blade !!  Could you take a really close shot of it !! Need to know if it was laser etched !! That would indicate a newer knife and probably a tourist item !!

[hosman321]

I don't know much about knives either but I wanted to say that they are really cool. I don't think they are extremely old but there is still the possibility that they have some age. I'd say less than 100 years. Anybody think these could have been a tourist item and are a bit old? Or do they look newer to you?

[hosman321]

They do look like some areas have real gold, not cheap paint. I know that doesn't mean too much, but they do look to be high quality even if they are repros or tourist items. Even old tourist items can be worth a fair amount if they are from the turn of the century. Don't be thrown off by the inexpensive looking stones, they could be "paste." They just look so new to me.

[waywardangler]

They appear to be either ceremonial knives or souvenir knives. They are not meant to be used as knives. Those handles would be EXTREMELY uncomfortable to hold. If you grandmother had them for a long time, was your grandfather in any type of fraternal organization? That one sheath has a knight's head on it and may be from Knight's Templar, a Masonic group. Just throwing some ideas out there.

[hosman321]

Great idea wayward. That would explain why they could be higher quality and possibly have real gold on them. I was trying to see what the design was at the top of the sheath. Can you post a larger picture of that area? I'll go lookin' for similar knives with waywards idea in mind.
Also, do those holes at the top go right through the handle?

[bob535]

A close up of the sheath would be nice. If you look real close at the pictures provided, the one with the knight helmet looks like their might be a crest of some kind on the top metal piece.

[bob535]

Well actually both of them look like they have crests.

[Texasbadger]

My guess is that due to the exactness of details on the bladework and just different art on the scabbard leather, that they are very nice display or gift items, not functional or meant to be worn.  Perhaps even high end tourist items. 

[sharpkid123]

The holes do not extend all the way through. I attached some more pictures to get a better idea... Thanks for the replies!