Lot 330B

18th C. Iron Folk Dagger - Brass Guard, Wrapped Wood Grip

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Lot 330
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18th C. Iron Folk Dagger - Brass Guard, Wrapped Wood Grip
18th C. Iron Folk Dagger - Brass Guard, Wrapped Wood Grip
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18th C. Iron Folk Dagger - Brass Guard, Wrapped Wood Grip

Estimate: $500 - $750

Starting Bid: $250

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Europe or colonial Americas, ca. 1775–1875 CE. A slender hand-forged iron blade tapers to a needle point, its surface darkened by age and pitted with the granular patina of long-buried metal. A simple oval brass guard, cast of a high-copper alloy, divides blade from hilt and offers the only ornament this utilitarian weapon allows. The wooden grip is bound in tightly spiraled cord or fiber, swelling toward a bulbous pommel that fills the hand and balances the long blade. Everything here speaks of function over flourish: a personal sidearm or working knife, likely the product of a village smith rather than an armory. Daggers of this unpretentious construction served frontier settlers, sailors, and laborers across the Atlantic world, carried for defense, for the hunt, and for the countless ordinary cutting tasks of daily life. Size: 11.5" L x 1.8" W (29.2 cm L x 4.6 cm W); on included custom stand: 11.7" H (29.7 cm H).

Metallurgical analysis supports the working attribution: the blade is nearly pure iron (98.8%), the guard a brass of roughly 62% copper and 35% zinc with trace iron, and the pommel a mixed iron-copper composition (about 52% iron, 46% copper). The high-zinc brass guard is consistent with post-medieval European brass production, narrowing the likely date to the late 18th or 19th century. Such mixed-metal, hand-assembled construction is typical of folk and utility blades made outside formal cutlery centers, where smiths combined whatever serviceable stock was at hand.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection

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Item # 203331

  • Condition: Good. Fissure to wood and pitting to iron with some chips to blade edge and tip. Nicks and abrasions throughout as shown. Otherwise, intact with rich patina to surface.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000