This fascinating weapon is a parrying dagger from Italy dating to 1600. Today it is in Britain’s Wallace Collection, a museum with an extensive armor and sword collection, but back in the day it would have been used by a duelist who fought with a rapier in the other hand.
This dagger is unusual for several reasons. First, at the time it was made, sword dueling was shifting away from a Renaissance style that featured a more traditional dagger- and- sword — with the dagger mainly defensive — to a one-handed combat with sword alone.
But the style of this Italian dagger was rare: it could fulfil a defensive parrying function, but also trap the opponent’s sword in the grooves, even if just momentarily. If you look closely, you can see arrow-head shaped “barbs” that would catch the blade. Forging such a weapon required tremendous skill, another reason it is such an unusual specimen. Finally, you can see the etched and guilded patterning at the base, making this blade exquisitely opulent.
It is just over 50 cm, which would be no joke in a combat IMHO.
Source(s): www.wallagecollection.org/what’s on/treasure/120, “Treasure of the Month – July 2012: a sword-catching parrying dagger Italian, c. 1600”
